Hurricane of Lightning
by silverbird6
Summary: Team Flash is recovering from the tragic death of Jay Garrick and celebrating their defeat of Zoom. But is Zoom really gone for good? Percy Jackson is enjoying normalcy after the Giant War when he is thrust into the crazy world of metahumans and superheroes. When Barry and Percy meet, will they create an unstoppable force? Or do lightning and water truly not mix?
1. Intro

Hello readers! I am going to attempt to make this author's note quick and painless. A couple things before I begin:

For this entire work: I do not own The Flash, Arrow, or Percy Jackson. The rights to these characters and plot points referenced from the original works belong exclusively to DC comics, the CW, and Rick Riordan.

This story is a crossover between the Flash television show and the Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus books. The timeline for this story is after the Heroes of Olympus series (but before the Trials of Apollo), and during the middle of season 2 of the Flash (after episode 15, "King Shark"). I have watched the newest season of the Flash in its entirety, but for the sake of introducing Percy, I have decided on this time period.

I will try to update at least one chapter per week. But there will be weeks with more posts and weeks with less. Such is life.

I will not be doing individual authors notes within chapters if I can help it. I feel that takes away from the story.

I hope you guys enjoy these great characters meeting as much as I do. Enjoy!


	2. Good Morning Central City

It was a normal day in Central City. Sun was shining, the streets were crowded, and another metahuman was trying to blow the city to bits. Barry zipped around the city in seconds, heading towards the city center where the latest meta was causing damage to an old hotel. Dashing about, Barry quickly removed the few people still in the danger zone and placed them a block away.

"Atom Smasher!" Cisco exclaimed over the radio "No, Molecula."

Barry sighed. "Can we deal with names later? Right now let's focus on saving the city. Any thoughts on how to stop an intangible meta?"

"Not intangible Allen, just momentarily scattering her atoms so that matter cannot touch her. While scattering the molecules of the hotel. This meta has considerable focus." It was hard to tell, but Harry almost sounded impressed.

"So I distract her. I can work with that." Barry turned the corner and ran in circles around Molecula. The meta. Whatever. When running around her didn't draw her focus, he decided to try the blindingly obvious approach first. Placing himself directly behind the meta, Barry ran at the meta in seconds. He poised himself to knock her out, only to run straight through her and into the side of the now solid building. Barry heard a crack in his hand as he fell to the ground. The meta had managed to scatter herself in split seconds while hardening the building to stop Barry. It was like she could sense he was coming. Huh. So distraction might not work. The meta seemed to have super focus and reflexes as well as her physical abilities. Barry gingerly got to his feet and zipped a block away, gathering his thoughts. If the meta could scatter molecules, perhaps she could sense the area around her with the molecules in the air.

Barry zipped back to the scene, an idea forming in his head. Cradling his hand, he weaved through falling rubble and moved back behind the meta. He nonchalantly picked up a pebble and tossed it a the meta. She didn't react, the small pebble bouncing off her back unnoticed. Barry backed up, then began running in a tight circle. If the meta could only sense molecules of a particular mass, he could hit her with something light. Something powerful, but with minimal atomic mass. Like electrons. Barry completed the final loop, then turned behind him, firmly grasping one of the tendrils of lightning trailing behind him. Turning 90 degrees, Barry released the lightning bolt at the meta, feeling a grim sense of satisfaction as the meta crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Quickly, he snapped a metahuman cuff on her and moved to stabilize the building. Fortunately, once the meta had removed her focus from the building, the concrete blocks of the building stabilized. Shattered windows, some cracked foundation, destruction of most of the furniture. All in all not too bad.

Leaving the meta in the custody of the CCPD (it was nice not having to drag every rogue meta back to the pipeline), Barry ran back to Star Labs.

"And that is number 98 Flash, 0 Rogue Meta. We should hold a party at 100" Cisco swiveled in his chair, sucking on a lollipop that had turned his mouth bright red. He resembled a mad scientist vampire, his hair surrounding his face in an uncontrollable halo. He had electrocuted himself earlier in the day, and his hair had yet to recover.

Caitlin frowned, turning to face Cisco "You've been counting?".

"Of course! How else would we know when to celebrate?" Cisco pressed his hands to his chest in mock horror. Harry rolled his eyes at Cisco's antics and moved towards Barry. "Impressive deduction out there, Mr. Allen. This particular meta had significant power. These rogue metas seem to be gaining power. Or perhaps just mastering their abilities sooner".

"And it is getting harder to track them. Without knowing what to look for, it is nearly impossible to pick them out before they cause trouble" Caitlin huffed, shoving her hair behind her ears. "Other than tracking breaches, but that problem was hopefully solved when..." She trailed off, looking at Jay Garrick's helmet in the middle of the cortex for a moment before continuing "When you all closed the breaches". Caitlin quickly pulled herself together, visibly shoving her feelings deep down and pulling on her icy mask. Barry hated to see her like this. It reminded him of when he had first joined the team, when she was still mourning Ronnie. Barry glanced at Cisco, who was staring at Caitlin like she would turn into a psychopath right in front of him. Of course, after meeting Killer Frost, that was probably exactly what he was worried about.

Caitlin glanced at Barry, noticing his broken hand for the first time. She motioned to him, grabbing a med kit. Barry sat on the steps as Caitlin hovered beside him, carefully setting his hand

"I have the computers set to alert us to any temporal abnormalities or breaches. That is all I can do right now. I got a few ideas from Earth-2 though that might help. I need to tinker with it a bit though" Cisco said, shrugging his shoulders and resuming the demolition of his lollipop.

"Great. Hopefully we will have a little bit of a break so you can get that up and running. After Earth-2 and King Shark, we deserve a break" Joe sighed, fingering his gun unconsciously. "Not that we ever get that".

Barry looked up as Caitlin finished setting his hand. "True. But why not take advantage of the momentary respite? Meet at Jitters, then go for some late night karaoke? It is a Friday night after all. We could use some relaxation and humor after the last couple weeks. Months."

"Year" Cisco muttered from his chair.

"No. Absolutely not. No karaoke". Caitlin groaned, crossing her arms.

"What?!" Cisco nearly dropped his lollipop out of his mouth as he quickly spun to face Caitlin. "There is nothing, and I mean nothing more amusing than watching tipsy people sing horribly, embarrassing themselves in public."

Caitlin finished putting the medical supplies away and returned to the center of the cortex. "Not when _Someone_ is actually a decent singer. And karaoke brings back terrible memories." Caitlin looked pointedly at Barry, a small smile twitching at the corner of her mouth.

" _Summer Lovin' had me a blast_ " Barry softly sang, grinning at Cailtin. She shook her hand in exasperation and restated "No karaoke".

Cisco's lollipop did fall out this time. Barry smiled and stood up, grabbing his lab tech bag "I have to go to the office. Jitters at 8pm?"

"No way am I singing either. Lets just do a nice dinner, down at my house". Joe suggested, following Barry out the door "I can grill out. Would be a nice change from fast food and pizza."

"Hey!" Barry protested "Now that I am living on my own, pizza is the main food group."

"So you should be grateful for anything other than that." Joe stated, waving at the rest of the group as he walked under the door.

Caitlin smiled "Anything that isn't karaoke. I will be there". The rest of the group nodded their consent as Joe and Barry disappeared down the hallway.

"But...but...but" Cisco stuttered, slowly climbing out of his chair "No! You can't just drop that bomb on me and then walk away. I need details! Photographic proof! Please tell me someone recorded that. Barry!" Cisco's voice faded as Barry walked towards the elevator, chuckling.

"Fine, grilling sounds pretty good" Barry picked up the conversation once they exited Star Labs "Pizza does get pretty old when you have to eat 3 boxes per meal just to get enough calories" Barry shuddered slightly.

"How on Earth did you manage to keep your "sidejob" as the Flash secret from Patty?" Joe questioned, massaging his temples as they walked down the sidewalk in front of the precinct "It's like you have a great big sign saying 'Big Secret: I am the Flash' but no one notices."

"It helps that I have always been a little...weird" Barry muttered "That is why Iris took so long to find out." Joe shouldered open the door to the precinct while whispering "you may want to work on that, Bar".

"Allen!" Singh stormed over to Barry and Joe as they exited the elevator. "Where have you been? We need the report from last week's meta attack and need evidence collected from the new scene. And, to make matters worse, your tardiness seems to be rubbing off on Joe too!" Singh's face gradually grew redder and redder, a blue vein threatening to pulse out of his forehead.

"Sorry Sir. Train was all backed up from the meta attack. We got here as quick as we could" Joe smoothly stepped in before Barry could give one of his famously horrible excuses. Singh glared at Barry one more time, then reluctantly moved to them them through. "Tonight, Allen. I want those reports tonight."

Barry sighed, moving slowly up the stairs to his office. It was going to be a long day.


	3. The Art of Strategic Retreats

Percy ran through the woods, heart pounding. Glancing to either side of him, he saw shapes steadily following him through the woods.

"Hades" he muttered, dodging and weaving through the dense undergrowth. He felt out into the forest, searching for his goal. Nothing, nothing, nothing, _something_. Water, 1/2 mile ahead. Too far to use it, but if he could get closer... "So close" he whispered to himself, his heart pounding like a cannon as he increased his speed. He could hear war cries getting closer and closer behind him. He realized just as he rounded a corner that he was being funneled directly into a trap. A group of enemies stood before him, bronze weapons glinting in the early morning sunlight. The rest of the horde was closing in from either side. Percy sighed and skidded to a stop, uncapping Riptide. He wasn't going to make it. He needed to fight his way out.

How did it come to this? It was supposed to be an easy mission, a quick in and out. Retreat before anyone noticed he had been there at all. Stealth wasn't usually his thing, but it had been the best plan. Percy inwardly cursed, scanning the forest for the rest of his team. Of course, they were nowhere to be found. One of the shapes stepped forward, spear tip menacingly pointed at him.

"Give it up, Prissy!" the big girl yelled, waving her spear threateningly. "You're out-numbered. Just give us the flag and I won't pummel you to a pulp."

Percy grinned, casually swinging his sword back and forth. Some of the newer campers instinctively backed off. "Come on, Clarisse! Did you really think I would just give up?"

Clarisse's smile looked more like as snarl as she replied, "I was hoping you would say that, Prissy." Clarisse and the rest of the Ares cabin started to advance from the front, while the Apollo and Demeter cabins flanked him from the sides. Percy could see the Hephaestus cabin at his rear and quickly racked his brain, trying to think of a way to win this. He could take out one of the cabins by himself. He had done it before. But with four of them here? No way. He needed one of his insane plans. Water: too far away. Teammates: nowhere to be found. Percy was surrounded by 40 angry campers while holding their flag. Things were not looking promising for the Son of Poseidon.

Making the decision to just wing it (as he usually did), Percy ripped the red flag from its pole and stuffed it in his armor. That would help. As the red team drew near, Percy was seriously considering if he could use the flag pole to pole-vault when he saw the shadows to his right darkening. A grin worked its way back onto Percy's face and he slowly lowered his sword, drawing the campers in. Closer. Closer. NOW! In a burst of speed, Percy pushed himself off the ground and back-flipped right over a Demeter camper. Percy rushed past that speck of shadow into the trees, disarming three Demeter campers easily. He shook off the vines a Demeter camper sent after him and raced off, leaving his capable and to be honest, terrifying cousin to keep Clarisse and company from following him. He heard a crackle of lightning behind him and smiled. Jason had joined the party.

Percy continued to dodge and weave through the woods. 400 meters. He shifted to the right as an arrow hit a tree to his left. 300 meters. Percy almost wiped out on a log. 200 meters. Percy could see the creek now. Sprinting furiously, he exited the tree line...

And was met with a spear aimed at his head. Percy barely ducked, feeling the electricity from Clarisse's spear Lamer singe his hair. Said daughter of war was standing in front of him with a rather large sword pointed at his chest. "Yield, Jackson." she panted, all traces of humor gone. "Or I will hit you so hard you won't remember your name".

Percy flinched, remembering his first trip to Camp Jupiter, courtesy of Hera. Not cool, Clarisse, he thought, reaching out to the creek. Right before Clarisse hit him over the head, he willed tendrils of water to pull at her legs, bringing her to the ground. Percy allowed the water to pull him the rest of the way, crossing the creek in one fluid motion. He held up the red team's flag as the conch horn blew, signifying the end of the games. In a burst of wind and shadow, his cousins appeared beside him. Jason whooped as Nico crossed his arms in satisfaction.

"And the Big 3 team wins capture the flag, after wiping the floor with the red team!" Leo called out from his perch next to Chiron, using his "supersonic megaphone".

"Who's idea was it to let Leo commentate?" Jason whispered as Leo's megaphone blasted cheering noises, interspersed with "The cow goes moo" and "Put on some pants". Calypso sat next to him, shaking her head at his antics. She waved down to the three, then stood up and left to help Grover to relocate some nymphs displaced during the battle with Gaea.

"Whoever it was, they are going to feel my wrath." Nico grinned, the expression looking demented on his face, "I think some of my step-mother's plants may come in handy".

Percy chuckled nervously at the thought of Persephone's garden. That place was just plain creepy. Plants definitely shouldn't have teeth. Campers streamed past the trio, some stopping to congratulate them on their victory, some just shooting them pointed glares. A shock of blonde hair bounced up to the group, a sunny smile on his face. "Great game you guys!" Will slung his arm around Nico's shoulders, ignoring the Ghost King's attempts to squirm away. "Don't you just love Leo as announcer! He brings a certain...panache to capture the flag. It was a great idea, if I do say so myself".

Nico's face became slightly more white than usual. Jason and Percy tried valiantly to hide their grins, but a snort escaped from Percy as Will said, "Certainly less injuries without Leo on a team. His contraptions almost made me miss when he was gone. But this is a great change. Right Nico?" The glint in WIll's eyes told Percy he knew exactly what Nico thought of Leo's new position. Nico glared at his feet and muttered, "Yeah, great idea". As one of Will's eyebrows raised, Nico hurriedly finished, "I hope he commentates the next game". Mission accomplished, Will retreated with a wave. Nico glared daggers at the snickering pair beside him "Not a peep".

LINE BREAK 

"I hate running away. It feels so wrong. Leaving the others to fight while I flee."

"It worked, didn't it?" Annabeth's voice responded, tinted with annoyance, " It was the last thing they expected. Look, if you don't want my advice, don't ask for it".

Percy ran his hand through his messy hair. Great, he had managed to offend his girlfriend. "No, Wise Girl. You know I value your opinion. Hades, your advice is the only reason I am still alive after all these years. It just reminded me too much of...you know" Percy trailed off, gesturing with his hands. Annabeth's eyes softened slightly, "Percy, this was capture the flag. Not the Giant War. Not...there". Through the Iris message, Percy saw Annabeth compose herself and lean closer to the message "You cannot allow your fatal flaw, your _fear_ , to control you. Stop." Annabeth held up a hand as Percy started to protest, "Just listen. We are all changed by the Giant War. Percy, you have to recognize that your desire to take on the risk for others has been amplified by your experiences. Please remember that gaining friends isn't adding responsibility, but adding strength".

Percy stopped himself from instantly protesting that he knew this already. Because he did. And if he was honest with himself, he knew that Annabeth was right. But his logic was being overpowered by his instincts, which screamed to not let anyone near the danger zone when he could prevent it. He shook himself. Now was not the time to deal with this. "How is girls weekend?"

Annabeth sat back again, looking vaguely disappointed in him. "Great! Piper's dad's place is impressive. And certainly has all the amenities. I was in San Francisco Thursday for Thanksgiving with dad, but we are having a big lunch here today. Piper wasn't big on the idea, but Hazel insisted."

"How are they?"

"Relieved to be back to normal. Tired, like the rest of us. You would think that after two wars, school would be a breeze." Annabeth laughed, "But I have finals in two weeks, and no time to study, plus scholarship essays, and I wanted to take my ACT again, I just don't think a 35 reflects my capabilities...What are you laughing at, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth huffed, crossing her arms. Percy laughed, almost falling into the fountain in the Poseidon cabin. "Annabeth, only you would be concerned about a 35 on the ACT!"

"Don't you forget that you need to be studying as well..." Annabeth was cut off by a knock at her door. "That's Hazel, lunch is ready." Annabeth gave Percy a look that told him they would be continuing this conversation later. "Got to go. Tell Jason hi for me before he goes back to Camp Jupiter".

"I will. Love you, Wise Girl".

"Love you, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth cut the connection. Percy stood up and stretched, working feeling back into his legs. He knew he should be studying right now, but it was Thanksgiving break. He wanted to enjoy Camp Halfblood while he had the chance. Resolving to study that night, Percy grabbed a jacket and headed into the woods towards the Long Island Sound. The beach always cleared his head. He was a bit...jumbled after his conversation with Annabeth. This was the longest they had been apart since the whole Hera debacle. Almost a year ago now. Losing months of his life...Percy still felt off balance sometimes from that.

Percy was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice the shift until it was almost too late. Something was off. His demigod instincts taking over, Percy ducked into the undergrowth. He peered out into the clearing up ahead just beyond the camp's borders. A band of monsters were gathered around a glowing circle. The circle was practically sizzling with electrical energy and was constantly shifting. Percy sat back, mind reeling. This was the largest group of monsters he had seen since Gaea's defeat. Hellhounds, telkhines, a few empousa, and one tall, black monster that Percy didn't recognize. Surprising, because Percy was pretty sure he had faced all of mythology by now. There was always a chance it could be from Egyptian or Norse mythology, but this creature seemed different. More human than the others. The electricity running along its body seemed to pulse in time with the strange circle behind him. Percy watched in horrified fascination as the monsters began to file through the ring and...disappear? Percy backed up, intent on getting someone who could understand this, like Chiron, when he stepped on a stick. The resounding snap rang through the clearing. "Great Percy" he thought "nearly brought down the world with a nosebleed, let's bring down the camp by stepping on a twig". The electric monster was searching the woods, looking for the source of the disturbance. His eyes found Percy's and in the blink of an eye he was next to Percy. Percy's mind paused, wondering how the monster moved so fast and how it crossed the camp border. But the only thing that came out was, "What happened to your mouth? Plastic surgery gone wrong?"

The monster snarled, grabbing Percy's hair before he could reach Riptide. "Interesting, a lone camper." Its voice rasped, amplified by the electricity, "You should have stayed with the rest of your pathetic camp".

"You shouldn't have planned your monsters convention in broad daylight. Although," Percy paused, searching for an opening, "I understand why you need beauty sleep". Percy kicked at the creature's legs, only to find it not in front of him, but behind him. He only had the warning of a breeze behind him before he was thrown in the air, down the hill. Percy landed on his back in the clearing, seeing red from impact. The creature was next to him in an instant.

"A pathetic creature like you isn't worth my time" It snarled, vibrating its claw, "but there can be no witnesses".

Percy didn't want to stick around for that. He hesitated, remembering his earlier discussion with Annabeth. She would tell him to run, execute a strategic retreat. He was outgunned. But he was Percy. And who knows where those monsters went? They could be terrorizing the camp right now. So he backed up slowly, trying to appear more like a scared kid than a calculating soldier. Keep moving. Don't trip. Avoid the claws.

Percy felt the movement before he saw it, a breeze on his neck. He ducked, rolling across the grass and, with a quick prayer to whoever was listening, he dove through the circle and disappeared.


	4. Close Encounters of the Teenage Kind

Soft, jazzy music played in the background as Team Flash gathered around Joe's dining room table. Thick steaks fresh off the grill were piled high in the middle, and Joe had cracked open a few bottles of wine. Iris and Caitlin were laughing at Cisco, who was attempting to build a helicopter out of steak knives. Joe was swaying to the music while tossing a salad, reminding Barry eerily of Earth-2 Joe. Harry and Jesse were finishing setting the table, some underlying tension pulling between them. Barry sat back in his chair, content to watch the team, his family, banter and laugh.

Barry was pulled out of his musings by the Imperial March blasting through the room. Cisco paused his "engineering" to fumble for his phone. "What is that?" Iris inquired.

"I set my phone to alert me if the satellite caught wind of any temporal abnormalities. It just got a hit." Cisco explained, his fingers quickly scrolling through pages of data. Joe brought out the salad and sat down heavily, clearly annoyed that the nice evening had the potential of being ruined. Cisco suddenly blanched, his eyes looking up from the phone. He met Barry's curious gaze with apprehension. "Three breaches just opened up. Downtown, Southside, and 20 miles west of the city."

Everyone froze. "How is that possible? We closed them. We closed them all." Harry whispered, unconsciously reaching towards the energy rifle he had brought.

"Any police reports? Traffic accidents, anything in that area?" Joe questioned, pulling on his shoulder holster.

Cisco shook his head "No, they all touched down in fairly remote areas. Downtown location is in Memorial Park, Southside in an abandoned warehouse. Got to love that villain predictability".

"Let's start downtown. That is the closest threat to civilians. Southside's mostly industrial, there will be little traffic tonight." Barry ran to Joe's closet, where he was currently storing his Flash suit. He looked at the team while adjusting the lighting bolt logo. "You guys head to Star Labs, back me up. I will go see what our newest visitor wants."

Team Flash nodded and started gathering their things, making a dash for the cars. Joe stopped Barry before he raced off. "Bar, hang on a sec. What if it's, you know..." Joe looked nervously at Caitlin and Jesse before continuing "we both know who this is".

Barry sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I know, Joe. But what do you want me to do?"

"Take backup." Joe's voice was firm, leaving no room for debate. "Take Cisco and myself. We can cover you."

"I don't know..." Barry was cut off by Cisco, who appeared next to him holding his Vibe glasses "It's a good idea, Barry. I can get Joe and myself there. We will meet you at the source. I have sent the coordinates to your suit, it will give you directions through the earpiece."

Barry felt himself once again impressed by Cisco and his growing confidence as Vibe. He pulled his hood over his head and nodded once, racing out of the house and down the street. City lights whizzed by as Barry focused on Memorial Park, begging the speed force to keep Zoom contained a bit longer. But deep down he knew: his battle against Zoom was just beginning.

Soon the lights of the city dimmed and Barry found himself surrounded by the softer colors of street lamps and green trees. Memorial Park. Following the instructions Cisco's program gave him (in a voice suspiciously similar to HAL's), Barry arrived in a clearing just as Cisco opened a breach with Joe in tow. Closing his breach, Cisco pulled off his glasses and inspected the park. Joe, though slightly green, pulled out his gun quickly as the foreign breach came into view. Barry ran closer just as the glowing circle spit out a human figure, preparing himself for the dark, electric profile of Zoom. But Barry was met with a tall, lean profile instead. The figure took up a defensive stance in front of the breach, pulling out what looked like a pen. The human stood there until the breach closed, then relaxed a bit and turned around, looking perplexed. "I could have sworn it was just daytime" the figure muttered, glancing back where the breach had disappeared like it would sneak attack him. The man, or more accurately, boy, took a few steps forward, freezing when he caught sight of Barry and his friends. Joe raised his gun and yelled, "Step away from the breach! Put your hands behind your head and get on your knees!"

Barry strode up confidently and added, "I would do what he says. No more breaches, or I will take you down. Otherwise, this can be quick and easy."

"Breeches?" the kid asked, placing his hands behind his head slowly, "like the pants?".

Joe slowly moved forward to attach a metahuman cuff. Barry frowned. Something wasn't right here. All the other metas had been openly hostile, not confused. Barry inspected the boy, noting his startling green eyes. His body tone and stance indicated that he wasn't a stranger to fighting. His clothes were the same as those of any other teenager: jeans and a t-shirt. Barry didn't recognize him from Earth-2, but maybe Harry would. Just as Joe reached the kid, he suddenly moved, faster than the average human, and dodged the bullet from Joe gun. The boy quickly disarmed him and hit him over the head with the butt of the gun. Barry recovered, moving faster than a blink and pushed him away from Joe. The kid slammed up against a nearby picnic pavilion, and took a minute to get up.

"Hades!" The boy held his head, seemingly unalarmed by the trickle of blood on the back of his neck, "How on Earth did you do that? What is up with all these fast monsters? Even the Hermes kids don't move that quick!"

"He is the Flash! You know, fastest man alive, saved Central City?" Cisco called, muttering, "I don't understand half of what this kid is saying."

Barry silently agreed. The kid was confusing as heck and didn't even know who the Flash was. Not the usual for Zoom's minions. But he had obviously met another speedster today. And Barry wasn't about to trust him. Not when there was the slightest possibility of Zoom's influence. "Look kid, we need to take you in. Just come quietly and we can get this all sorted. You already took out a cop, lets not cause any more damage."

The boy laughed without a trace of amusement. "Yeah right. You scout my camp, bring monsters to the borders, and then try to kill me. That doesn't scream trustworthy to me. You and that electric dude are crazy". Barry sighed and moved in, only to find that the kid had _dodged_ Barry's punch. Barry himself had to sidestep out of the way as a well-timed kick came speeding towards him. This kid definitely had enhanced reflexes, but he was still slow to a speedster.

Cisco created a breach and jumped into the fight. The teen's eyes went wide, then narrowed, as if determining that Cisco was the greatest threat. Big mistake. Barry punched the teen back, aiming for his legs with a quick kick. The teen took the punch surprisingly well and avoided the kick, making a dash for Cisco. Barry pursued him, until something hit him _hard_ and he flew back into a tree.

Head spinning, Barry looked up to see a wall of _water_ separating him from Cisco. He tried to phase through, only to be thrown into the tree again. Barry watched helplessly as the teen swiftly knocked Cisco over the head with something bronze and shiny. Barry got up, ignoring the pain in his head. He had to get to Cisco before the kid killed him. He used his speed to climb a tree, then launch himself over the wall of water, which was slowly forming a circle around the boy. He punched the teen in the side, hearing something crack as the kid fell. The water wall started to waver, and Barry took advantage of that. Not giving him a chance to retaliate, Bary launched a series of super speeded punches on the boy. He paused, the boy lying unmoving on the ground, the wall of water collapsing around him.

"Barry! Barry, what happened?" Caitlin's voice crackled through the earpiece. Barry attempted to shake the water out of his ear.

"One person came through the breach. Knocked out Joe and Cisco. Possible meta. I have him down, gonna bring him to the pipeline. Something isn't right, and we need to figure out what is going on" Barry managed to get out, wiping the blood off his lip and breathing a bit hard. He turned around to collect the boy, only to find him standing up again. Blood trickled down the kid's chin and he favored his right side. Hands outstretched, water lept from the nearby lake towards him. The wave enclosed Barry in a bubble of water. He attempted to phase out, evaporate the water, even throw lightning (which was a pretty dumb idea to be honest), but the water wouldn't budge. If anything, the pressure became greater as the kid lifted the ball of water off the ground, effectively trapping Barry from using his speed. He felt his air dwindling, allowed to do nothing as his vision grew blurry.

"I am sorry. But you left me no choice." The boy actually sounded regretful, but anger laced his voice as well, "You stranded me. You threatened my family. And _nothing_ " the kid practically was growling, "Nothing will stop me from getting back to them. Helping them stop _you_. When you wake up, your friend with the X-Men glasses and I will be gone. Don't follow us. I promise once he brings me home I will leave him for you. Until then..." the kid tipped an imaginary hat, stepping back, "Sweet dreams, Red".

Barry struggled a bit, desperate to get to Cisco before this boy took him. He sure as heck didn't trust him to return Cisco unharmed. As Barry's vision grew dark, the water pressure suddenly started to decrease. The last thing he saw before succumbing to unconsciousness was a green arrow shooting through the boy's leg.

LINE BREAK

Barry woke up in a panic, the bright lights in the cortex momentarily blinding him. Gasping for breath, he moved off the cot and into the main room. Team Flash looked up at him with concern, Caitlin moving quickly to his side. "Careful" she warned, "you were out for a while. About an hour. Mild hypothermia from the water, split lip, bit of water in your lungs. Big bump on the back of your head, no concussion. Overall, you were lucky." She frowned at him worriedly, then moved back to her seat behind the computer.

Barry looked around, accounting for all the members of Team Flash. Cisco and Joe were up already, each with an ice pack on their heads and a towel around their shoulders. As Barry took stock, he noticed that there were more people than usual in the room. Felicity sat between Cisco and Caitlin behind a computer, smiling reassuringly at Barry. Diggle and Lyla stood at the back of the room, arms crossed almost identically. And next to them, a blonde man in a green jacket, his bow resting against the wall.

"Oliver!" Barry said, walking up to shake his hand, "what are you doing here?"

"You're welcome" the Green Arrow stated, frowning at Barry. "You are lucky I was there. You were getting your ass kicked."

"Thanks Oliver." Barry muttered sarcastically. "Not that I don't appreciate the assist or the encouraging pep talk, but really, what are you doing here?"

"We decided to accompany Lyla and Diggle back from Argus. You know, just drop in for the evening and say hi. Celebrate the capture of King Shark. Lyla said that you guys would hopefully have some downtime since Zoom was gone." Felicity chattered while typing on the computer. Barry had no idea what she was doing. Probably hacking into the NSA or something. "But obviously that didn't happen. I am glad! I mean, I am glad we stopped by so we could help you, obviously not glad that you didn't get any downtime..." she stopped, shaking her head slightly. Barry grinned and gave her a quick hug. "I am glad you guys stopped by too."

"So what is going on? A new meta?" Diggle asked. Cisco typed a bit on the keyboard and a couple pictures popped up on screen. One was of the breach in the clearing as the kid was coming through, the other a close up of the kid's face. The close up must have been taken recently, as the boy was unconscious. "A new breacher. Three breaches opened up in Central City tonight. One in the park, one in a warehouse, the other outside the city. Downtown location spit out this new meta, the one that we had the pleasure of meeting. The satellites that I had thoughtfully repurposed took a few pictures of the warehouse, but couldn't see much. The one outside the city, however, took a picture of the invader from Earth-2." Cisco's grin turned grim as a picture of a black figure, wreathed in blue lightning, stepped out from the breach and zoomed away.

"So Zoom's back." Joe said, clearly unsurprised. Judging by the faces of the rest of the team, they had all expected this. "And theoretically another meta came through in Southside. What about this meta?"

"He has enhanced reflexes and some form of hydrokinesis. He knows how to use it too." Barry turned to Oliver, "How did you get us here? I saw your arrow hit him in the leg, but that is about all I remember."

Oliver winced slightly "The kid put up a good fight. Even with the arrow sticking out of his leg, he drenched us. But I was far enough away that I was able to hit him with a tranq arrow before he got too close. Loaded you all into our van and headed over to Star Labs."

"Where is he now?"

"The pipeline prison. Still unconscious from the tranq arrow. We can talk to him when he wakes up." Caitlin stated, getting up from the computer to grab a thin, black paper. An x-ray of a rib cage, Barry noticed as she brought it over. "The kid had three cracked ribs, a broken nose, and a mild concussion. Plus the wounds from the two arrows. His ribs and nose set fairly easily, and his concussion was treated in time, so he's physically on the mend. But those arrow wounds and ribs are going to slow him down enough that he shouldn't be a flight risk, even if he was out of the pipeline."

"Good." Cisco said forcefully, "The last thing we need to worry about with Zoom and an unknown on the loose is this meta running around. Plus, my head really hurts."

Barry rolled his eyes a bit and turned to face Oliver and company, "Are you guys going to stick around still? Could always use some backup with Zoom."

Oliver started to protest, but was silenced by a look from Felicity, who stated: "We will absolutely be staying. It will be nice have some friendly faces and normality. Gosh, when an alternate Earth and metahumans are normal, you know that things are really strange for us." Her usually happy face turned a bit dour "Stupid Damien Dark".

Barry grinned, excited at the chance to work with Team Arrow again. He always felt equally judged and comforted when Oliver was in town. But he would take every advantage when it came to Zoom. Barry looked at the live feed to the pipeline, showing the teen who attacked him sleeping. He looked innocent enough when he wasn't awake, and Barry was left to wonder who this boy was and why Zoom brought him here. But for now, all they could do was wait, and seek out the other breachers. Barry hoped they could find them before it was too late.


	5. Frenemies and Doppelgängers

Consciousness takes much longer to regain than it does to lose. Percy woke up slowly, remembering only bits and pieces of the previous day. Capture the flag, a glowing circle, speedy monsters, Robin Hood. He held his head as he slowly sat up and attempted to regain his balance. The world tilted dangerously around him, then gradually steadied. The first thing he noticed was the constant hum of machinery. The floor was cold and hard, and the room, if it could even be considered a room, was the size of a large closet. Stainless steel containers that pulled out from the walls contained food, water, one of those composting toilets, and a sink. The walls were a bright blue, with one whole wall made of glass. It reminded him too much of Circi's island. He quickly checked that he was still human and not a guinea pig. As soon as he had determined he was not a fluffy animal, he shot to his feet, wincing as he put weight on his right leg. Robin Hood had shot him there, he remembered. He tested his weight on it, slower this time. It hurt like Hades, but the wound was starting to close. A couple ribs were definitely broken, and he had a large puncture mark on his arm that was already starting to fade. A quick inspection revealed that his broken nose had been reset. Percy rummaged around in his pockets, feeling the familiar weight of Riptide in one. Searching his other pocket led to the equivalent of a million drachmas: a smashed piece of ambrosia. Just when he was about to pull it out of his pocket, he heard a noise behind him.

"Ahem". Percy started at the noise, head whipping around to find the source. He quickly noticed that there were _people_ in front of his room. But it wasn't a room, Percy realized, as there was no door. A cell then. Great. As if he didn't have enough problems already. Now, he had landed himself in jail. Though in all honesty, it was probably a miracle that he hadn't been to jail yet. Percy had a million questions, most of which were not pertinent to his situation (thanks ADHD). But he focused on the most important question: "Where am I?'

"No. After the incident down in the park, we are going to ask the questions. Who are you? Why are you here?" A middle aged African American man stepped forward. Percy recognized him as the cop from earlier. At least Percy thought he was a cop. Not many other occupations involved telling people to "put your hands above your head and get on your knees". Next to the man were three other people. One was the red speed monster, one was Robin Hood, and the other was a young woman with curly dark hair and a medical jacket.

"You know Halloween is over, right?" Percy quipped, amused by their attire. "What do we have here? Detective Ed Green, a doctor, Robin Hood, and Elmo". He chuckled in amusement as the two dressed in leather scowled at him. He probably shouldn't be riling these people up, but he just couldn't help it. They looked ridiculous. And the cop really did look like Ed Green.

"Who are you, kid?" Robin Hood asked, adjusting his grip on his bow as if he wished he could punch Percy in the face. He probably did.

"Sorry, I'm not allowed to talk to strangers". Percy crossed his arms and glared back at them. The doctor sighed in exasperation, pulling a tablet from behind her. "Your face doesn't appear in any federal or local databases. So you haven't been arrested, you don't work for the government, and you don't have a driver's license. So your doppleganger is nowhere to be found. Harry doesn't even recognize you, so you probably aren't from Earth-2". The doctor stepped back slightly as Elmo stepped forward.

"Just tell me how Zoom sent you over. I know he sent you here to kill me. Give us information about Zoom's plan and any others he sent over, and I am sure that we can arrange a deal".

Zoom? Percy thought that name was worse than the Flash. Really, these people were so unoriginal. Not that Elmo or Robin Hood was any better, Percy mentally conceded. They were obviously referring to the speedy black creature from the woods. But what was that about him killing the Flash? Unless he had been hit really hard in the head, he was pretty sure Zoom was trying to kill him. Percy suddenly couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something big. He sighed. The more he thought about his situation, the more confused he became. Why was this Zoom interested in his camp? Not to mention that comment about Earth-2. The only answer that made any sense was that this Zoom was a mutual enemy, and they assumed Percy was working with him. Which would mean that they were not the bad guys here, that they didn't want to harm Camp Half-Blood. Annabeth would have come to that conclusion long before he did, but he had gotten there eventually. He was smarter than he looked, you know. Now that he had figured that out, he needed to work with these people to find the monsters and keep them from invading camp. Unfortunately, they were convinced he was the enemy because he threw a little water on them. Okay, a lot of water, but come on, it's not like it was fire or acid.

Percy ran his hand through his hair in frustration, and started pacing the 5 foot width of his cell. "Look, I know I haven't been the nicest since I got here, but in my defense, it has been a really long day". Robin Hood snorted in disbelief, shaking his head. "That is an understatement, kid. You nearly killed the Flash, and knocked out his friends. That doesn't scream trustworthy to me".

"And you tried to arrest me the instant I stepped through that glowy thing. You assumed I was the enemy and was in cahoots with the black speedy guy. We all made mistakes here. I am just trying to fix any misunderstandings before things spiral out of control".

Robin Hood shook his head, "Misunderstandings? Do you really think we are that gullible? I wasn't born yesterday, kid. You're just trying to save your own skin".

Percy felt his temper rising and tried to quell it before it got him in trouble. Again. "Look, I know nothing about you guys. I was attacked by the black speedy guy, Zoom, and went through the glowy circle. I somehow lost a whole day of time, because when I went through the circle, it was midday. And as soon as I stepped out, it was dark. I have no idea where I am, no idea who you all are, and no idea if my family is still alive or if those monsters have wiped them out already".

The Flash perked up for a second, "Monsters? What monsters?"

"The ones Greased Lightning brought through the circle. Not nice creatures, I will tell you".

Barry turned to the cop and the doctor "We need to find those things, now. Before they start hitting the city". He turned to Percy as if to ask another question, but an intercom dinged. A male voice sounding hauntingly familiar floated through a speaker, "Guys we need you in the Cortex. We may have a problem". The Flash and crew started to walk away. Percy saw his opportunity for answers slipping away. Hoping he didn't sound as desperate as he was, Percy called out to the Flash.

"Hey wait up there Red. I told you some about me. Can you at least explain where I am?"

The Flash sighed, "The 'glowy circle' was a portal between your world and mine. Welcome to Earth-1, an alternate universe of your Earth. Same people, same places, way different lives".

Percy's head just about exploded. He found words again as the four walked out of the hallway by his cell, "Wait! What the heck does that even mean? I'm on another Earth? How do I get back? Is there a me here? Do you have a McDonalds? Walmart? Come back!" Percy's questions did no good as they left him stewing in his cell. Percy kicked the glass, then sat down, frustration mounting again. He had to get out of here. Even if he wasn't worried about camp, the monsters would hunt him down soon. According to most monsters, Percy had a really strong odor, and nothing would cover that up, including this cell. He tried to form an Iris message using the water from the sink, hoping to contact camp or someone here, but the drachma just fell to the floor. Were there no Greek gods on this Earth?

Percy decided it didn't matter. He was getting out of here and getting some answers, whether these people liked it or not. He grabbed the ambrosia from his pocket, hesitating for a minute before stuffing half the piece in his mouth, saving the other half for whatever emergency came next. He then turned on the sink and used the water to finish healing the arrow wound. It didn't completely close, but it was nothing more than a deep scratch now. His ribs had mended, though they were still bruised, he could breathe much easier. He then turned to the task of getting out. The glass was too hard to kick or punch through. He thought he could maybe get through with Riptide, but that would cost precious time. Percy turned again to the sink, mentally following the stream of water to its source. A smile slowly spread across his face as he felt the faucet connect with the main water line. The familiar tug in his gut emerged as he drew gallons of water through the sink. He molded the water to the door, testing for any weak spots. It wasn't much, but there was a horizontal seam in the middle of the glass. He sent all the water there, allowing it to seep through the barely visible crack and spill outside the cell. Trying something he had never done before, Percy gathered all the water around that weak point and willed the water's temperature lower and lower, until the water surrounding the fissure expanded into ice. It wouldn't last two seconds on a hot day, but it was solid enough to provide Percy with an opening. Using Riptide as a lever, he pried the door open, shattering the glass as the two sections burst apart. Percy stepped out, glad to be out of that confined space. Breathing deeply, Percy returned the water to the plumbing. He could feel the pipes running through the entire building, so he could always call it if he needed it. He suspected he might. It was hard to fight fair when your enemy could move at high speeds.

Percy quietly snuck down the hallway, following the sound of raised voices. Then, a gunshot. All pretense of stealth abandoned, Percy ran to the middle of the building. The cortex. When Percy arrived, the friends of the Flash were trying to battle a hellhound. Trying being the key word. Without Celestial Bronze or Imperial Gold, all they were doing was making the beast angrier. With a howl, the monster swatted aside Robin Hood and turned on Barry, whose speed was making it very difficult for the hound to catch him. With the Flash occupying its attention, Percy saw his opening. Uncapping Riptide, he rushed into the room, ignoring the alarmed sounds of people hiding behind the desk. Using the medical cart as a stepping stool, Percy launched himself on the hound's back. The hellhound, realizing that Barry was the least of his problems, started to buck like a bull at the rodeo. Percy gripped the fur tightly, inching up towards the creature's head. Once he got there, he wasted no time in burying Riptide in its head up to the hilt. The hound gave a wail of despair, then dissolved into a pile of dust. The Flash and his friends slowly stood up in astonishment. Percy casually capped Riptide and kicked the monster dust around. He then turned to Robin Hood and snarked, "Does that scream trustworthy to you?"

The guy for once had nothing to say. Neither did the Flash or anyone on his team. They looked rather amusing, their mouths hanging open like sea bass. Percy noticed that there were 11 people in the room, five of them peeking out from under the desk. Three people, including the Ed Green lookalike, were holding guns at the fading pile of monster dust. Robin Hood and the Flash were standing side by side, while one man stood by a shattered television screen, some futuristic rifle in his hands. Percy recognized the doctor from earlier as she stood up from behind the desk. There were three other girls, and a short hispanic guy who was furiously typing at the computer, hair hanging over his face.

"I have no idea how that thing got in here. It just appeared out of nowhere!" The pair of futuristic glasses in his hands gave him away as portal man from last night. Everyone looked so confused, Percy decided to put them out of their misery. Maybe that would get him back in their good graces. Percy was becoming more and more convinced he needed these people to get back home. He barely understood what a portal was, much less how to create one. And who knows what those "breeches" they mentioned were. What did pants have to do with portals or Zoom? Not to mention that the multiple Earths thing was going way over his head. Yeah, he definitely needed their help.

"They're hellhounds, that's what they do. Shadow travel" Percy clarified as everyone continued to look bewildered. "You know, teleportation?"

"How do you know about this thing? We have never seen it before". The Flash asked, curiosity apparently overriding whatever mistrust he had.

"Remember when I said the creepy speedy dude brought monsters through? That would be one of them".

"How did it know to come here then? It's not like many people know where the Flash headquarters." A pretty African American girl asked, moving out from behind the desk.

"But Zoom does, yes?" The team's reactions confirmed Percy's theory. "He knew that you guys would be caught off guard. That you couldn't kill it. I am pretty sure he didn't count on me being here, so score one for us".

"Oh so it's us now?" Robin Hood had apparently found his voice again. "In case you forgot, you are a prisoner here. How exactly did you get out of your cell?"

Percy shrugged, "Wasn't that hard, to be perfectly honest. You really shouldn't allow a hydrokinetic guy access to a sink. Also, grumpy cat, that little thing I did there? It's called saving your life. Even though you guys are determined to lock me up. So you're welcome".

Admittedly, Percy enjoyed the look of annoyance on the hooded man's face. He really did look like grumpy cat when he did that. The familiar voice from earlier broke him out of his thoughts.

"But the cell blocks all metahuman powers". The glasses guy said, clearly mystified, "You shouldn't have been able to access your powers in there".

"Well that explains it. I am not one of those meta thingys". Percy stated, looking at the guy closer. He sounded really familiar. It wasn't until he pushed his hair back that Percy realized why. Gasping in shock, Percy moved closer, trying to determine if he was going crazy. The way today was going, he wouldn't be surprised if he was. But the face was the same. Older, not as lanky, longer hair, but definitely the same. "Leo?"

"No, I'm a cancer" the Leo look-alike quipped, glancing at Percy in amusement.

"Haha Leo. Very funny. I've _never_ heard that one before." Percy gave him a once over, noting that he had long straight-ish hair and looked years older than what he did when Percy left. "You look a lot older. How on Earth did you get here? No, don't answer that question. I don't even want to know. Gods of Olympus, Leo, Calypso is going to kill you. Then me. Then you again". Percy shifted awkwardly from one foot to the next, unsure of pretty much everything at this point. The glasses guy, Leo, answered, "No, I definitely am not Leo. My name is Cisco Ramon, and I have no idea who Calypso is. Though I definitely want to meet her!"

The Flash sped over and put his hand on Percy's shoulder, causing him to jump a few feet in the air. "Remember, same people, same places, different lives. Who ever this Leo is, Cisco here is his doppelgänger. Him in an alternate Earth".

Leo, no, Cisco, waved his hand awkwardly, then started to fidget with the computer keyboard as he questioned Percy, "What my doppelgänger like? Sounds like he is a ladies man. Is he a genius mechanic like me? Does he get movie references? Can he vibe?"

"Yes on the mechanics and movie references. No on the vibes. He likes to think he is a ladies man, but he isn't really. Except for Calypso, of course". Percy was a bit uncomfortable talking to this Leo-not-Leo. For the first time since he arrived, he was grateful when Robin Hood interrupted, "Look, I am sorry to break up the reunion, but don't you have a cell to return to?"

And the gratitude was gone. Gods, this guy was a piece of work. Percy crossed his arms. He had dealt with people like this before, and the best thing to do was to not show weakness, "You could put me back in there. But I will break out again. And again. And pretty soon, Zoom and those monsters are going to catch up to you guys. And I am your only anti-monster plan at the moment. So you can either accept that I just want to get home, or you can keep trying to contain me. But I promise you, that will not work out well".

The guy looked like he still wanted shoot an arrow through Percy's head, but one of the gun-toting friends stepped forward. She glared at Robin Hood for a second, then looked at Percy with something like grudging respect, "The kid is right. He is the only thing that worked against that hellhound. And who knows how many more there are. Admit it Oliver, we need him". She ignored the incredulous looks she was getting from everyone and stuck out her hand to Percy, "Lyla Michaels. Director of Argus".

Percy reached out to shake her hand, "Percy Jackson. Son of Poseidon. I am assuming Argus is a secret government organization?"

Lyla smiled. "Pretty much". The others introduced themselves. Apparently since Lyla trusted him, they thought it was safe to unmask. The Flash seemed much nicer as Barry Allen. Percy was honestly just relieved that he was human under the mask. Diggle, Felicity, and Lyla seemed to be working with Oliver, the Arrow; while Joe, Iris, Caitlin, Cisco, Harry, and Jesse seemed to work with the Flash. Percy flashed them a smile. "I am glad to know names. It was getting old trying to think of clever nicknames for each of you".

Caitlin was frowning at him, "What did you mean, "Son of Poseidon"?"

Percy shrugged, "Exactly what I said. On my Earth, mythology is very real, alive, and kicking today. Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Norse. So far. Gods, I hope there aren't any more".

The team took this news surprisingly well, except Diggle who kept muttering something about his life being normal until he met Barry.

Caitlin approached Percy cautiously, "You shouldn't be moving this much. You are going to make your injuries worse".

Percy almost laughed. This one would be fun to explain. Thinking for a moment, he decided to leave the ambrosia out of it. Knowing Cisco, he would want to study it, or wouldn't believe he couldn't eat it. Percy didn't think that disintegrating their tech guy would gain him any brownie points. So he kept it simple, displaying his mostly-healed arrow wound to Caitlin, "No worries. I heal fast".

Oliver looked scarily pleased by this information, while Barry subconsciously rubbed his shoulder blades, glaring at Oliver. Caitlin and Jesse both frowned, but Jesse was the first to reply, "I understand how the Flash heals fast. How do you? Is it something about being a demigod?"

"To some extent, yes. I have better reflexes and increased stamina. But, being the son of Poseidon, water help speed up the healing process".

Felicity twirled a pencil while rocking in her chair behind the computer. "How does water do that?" she questioned, dropping her pencil in the process.

"According to my girlfriend, the water speeds up the rate of mitosis and promotes blood clotting, whatever that means. Of course, there is always an element that can only be explained by, 'Because Poseidon'".

Caitlin and Jesse nodded like that made sense, while Felicity shrugged and moved back to her computer. Oliver moved to stand behind her. Percy noticed the ring on her finger, and determined that they were engaged.

Cisco was indulging in a handful of Jolly Ranchers, turning his mouth all sorts of unnatural colors. Percy could barely make out when he asked, "So that explains the hellhound. Greek monster. What about the other monsters that came through with Zoom?"

"A few more hellhounds, telkhines, a few empousa. Plus Zoom. He must have been recruiting monsters on my Earth. We kinda defeated their leader last summer, so they would jump at the chance for some easy prey. No offense".

The whole group chattered back and forth about Greek mythology and Percy's Earth. Yes, his dad was _the_ Poseidon. Yes, his mom was human. No, he didn't get to hang out on Olympus. Yes, Star Wars exists on every known Earth. No, Percy had no idea what Jitters was. Finally, they were interrupted by the Imperial March playing. Cisco rushed over to the computer with Felicity, both typing furiously through data streaming into their monitors. Cisco pressed a few buttons and a couple live streams came through of the same thing. The monsters were attacking downtown central city. And in the middle of them, "Zoom" Barry spat out with hatred. Oliver pulled on his hood and turned to Percy, "Alright kid. You said you can kill these things. Now's the time to prove it".

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! So we are approaching the halfway point of this story. First of all, I would like to thank all those who are following this story. I appreciate your readership, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the team's adventures. A special thank you to those who have favorited this story or reviewed. I appreciate all the comments. It is fun to get a glimpse of the story through your eyes.**

 **In regards to the future of this story, I am debating on adding a very brief chapter from Annabeth's POV, back on Percy's Earth. Let me know in the reviews if this is something you are interested in. I don't want to break up the story too much, but thought it might be a nice POV change. Also, I noticed that my chapters are getting progressively longer. I might start trying for shorter chapters more often. Thoughts? Otherwise, thanks again, and enjoy the story!**


	6. To Catch a Speedster

Barry zipped through the city seconds after the rest of the team left in the van. He could already hear the screams from downtown, where the monsters and Zoom were making short work of the city center. Barry was fuming, the heat causing him to run faster than he normally would, overshooting the square by a couple (okay, a lot) of blocks. Barry stood in the middle of the street, forcing himself to breathe evenly. He couldn't afford to be reckless. He had lost against Zoom every time. Even with Oliver and the new kid, Percy, here, he couldn't afford any mistakes. Something told Barry that Zoom was done playing with his food. If Barry got in Zoom's way, Zoom would no longer hesitate to kill him. Only after painfully extracting his speed, of course.

Remembering his few lessons with Oliver back when he first became the Flash, Barry raced back towards the city center and canvassed the area. All the monsters seemed to be contained to the few blocks he had seen. There was chaos in the streets outside the city center, but no monsters, metas, or speedsters. Breathing a sigh of relief, Barry made his way to the rondevu point. He arrived just as the Star Labs van screeched to a halt and Oliver, Diggle, Lyla, Cisco, and Percy climbed out. He heard Felicity's voice in his ear, "We are ready to roll. Rumble. Run? Whatever". He spied Harry on top of the van with his rifle at the ready, the last defense for the rest of the team. Oliver walked up to Barry while nocking an arrow. "What's the plan, Barry?" When he looked at Oliver in surprise, the older man sighed, "It's your city, Barry. We play by your rules. What is the plan?"

Barry took a deep breath. "Okay, Cisco, Oliver, and I will engage Zoom. Diggle, Joe, and Lyla, clear the civilians". Barry hesitated for a moment. There were a lot of monsters in the square. A dozen hellhounds, a bunch of those little evil lizards (telkhines, he thought), and a few women that looked human upon first glance, but then would shift into fire breathing donkey women. That was a lot for Percy to handle. But no one else knew what to do with those things. "Percy" The teen looked up expectantly. "Engage the monsters. Do you think you can take them all?" Percy gave Barry a truly terrifying grin, "Flash, it would be my genuine pleasure". The kid reached into his pocket, and pulled out a...pen? He ran into the fray without hesitation. Joe and Diggle reached out to stop him. "Is he crazy?!" Diggle exclaimed, clicking the safety off his Glock and preparing to race in after the teen. Their concern was abated when the kid clicked the pen, revealing the glowing bronze sword, which he used to promptly slice a telekhine in half. Cisco gave a low whistle as Oliver grinned for the first time all day, "Yup, he's got that". He then sobered up, looking at Barry. "We still have a job to do, Scarlet Speedster". Right.

Barry raced into the city center. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Cisco opening a breach for Oliver to jump through. Barry threaded through monsters, civilians, and police officers. He reached Zoom and punched him in the shoulder, knocking him back a few feet into the nearest building. The black-clad speedster jumped up instantly, grinning as he wiped a trickle of blood from the back of his head. The blood was a shockingly bright red. Barry had almost expected his blood to be black. "Flash" Zoom drawled, looking almost excited "I knew this...display would draw you out. Always so predictable. Always a step behind. Poor Flash, so fast and yet always too slow". Barry grinned manically at Zoom, unperturbed by his gloating. "Oh really? Then why is your monster army slowly disappearing?" Zoom whipped around, finding that Percy, who was literally moving like a hurricane through the donkey women, has eliminated half of his forces. He growled, almost looking like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. "The godling was...unexpected". Zoom suddenly grinned again, "But no matter. He has unknowingly made my job easier. I have no care for the monsters. Just needed them long enough to serve my purposes".

"Let me guess, your purpose is to get more speed"? Barry bantered back, silently counting. He needed 10 more seconds. Just 10 more. Zoom grinned, then started to move forward, slowly for the speedster, "Do you think I don't know what you are doing, Flash? Stalling for time? I am afraid that you won't get the chance to use what I am sure was a carefully crafted strategy". Zoom moved in the blink of a human eye. Come on! The trap wasn't set yet. Barry sighed. His plans always went to crap when he fought Zoom. He prepared to engage Zoom, but the speed demon was suddenly thrown into a wall as a blurry shape flew into him. Barry looked to the side in shock, and saw Percy giving him a thumbs up. The kid had _thrown_ a one of the donkey women at Zoom, and hit him. Barry acknowledged the demigod with a wave, then focused back on Zoom. Said speedster didn't waste any more time with words, just threw the empousa off him and charged at Barry, using the side of a building to get above the Flash. Barry grinned, speedily moving towards the overturned cars behind him. The trap was set. Percy had bought him the rest of the time he needed.

Zoom was now almost directly above him, using the buildings and trees to keep the high ground. The Flash continued to run towards the cars as his enemy moved closer and closer, until Zoom was...gone. The breach opened up above Barry like a monster looking for its next meal. Zoom was swallowed up quicker than he could react, in above Barry for one second and then suddenly in front of him as Barry whipped around and delivered a sucker punch to Zoom's face mask. When Zoom moved to get back up, Oliver put an arrow through each of Zoom's legs from atop a nearby car. Barry raced to hold down Zoom's arms, allowing Oliver to shoot a tranquilizer arrow in Zoom's chest for good measure. Barry quickly secured a metahuman cuff on Zoom, then stepped back. Could it be that easy? Did they finally catch Zoom?

"Yay! Score for team Flarrow. Arrlash? Dang it, neither of those works". Felicity's voice echoed through the comms system.

"Leave the naming to me, please" Cisco chimed in over the comms, stepping out of the shadows to relish in their victory.

Zoom chuckled from the ground, having already recovered from the tranquilizer. "This isn't over, Flash. Did you really think it would be this easy?" The speedster shifted from his stomach to his back, laughing maniacally in his growly voice. Then, he spoke in a language that definitely wasn't English. "Πάρτε το αγόρι. Αν δεν με απελευθερώνουν, τότε τον σκοτώνεις".

"Flash!" Oliver's sharp voice cut through his confusion. The Arrow pointed to the city center. The water from the fountain was swirling in a deadly hurricane around Percy, the ground littered with golden dust. But he was surrounded and severely outnumbered by the remaining hellhounds. Barry heard rather than saw him take a step backwards on his right leg, stumbling as the arrow wound from yesterday broke open. Percy cried out as one of the hounds took advantage of his hesitation, raking its claws along Percy's back. The kid dropped to the ground, his head banging on the side of the fountain. He only lost control of the water for a few seconds, but it was enough. The hounds pounced on him as he swung his bronze sword confusedly. Oliver fired a few arrows into the fray, but they just passed right through the hounds. Diggle and Lyla's bullets had the same effect, or lack thereof. A monster took a head shot at the demigod, and Barry winced as the kid's head was snapped back, rendering him unconscious. The hounds dragged him away from the fountain as the water fell lifeless to the ground, soaking them all. Zoom chuckled from the ground. "Release me, or they will kill him".

Oliver nocked an arrow, clearly torn between running to help Percy or planting an arrow through Zoom's skull. Cisco's head whipped back and forth between Percy and Zoom, as if contemplating which option to choose. Barry's mind raced, trying to think of a way out of this situation. He couldn't let the hounds kill Percy. Not only was he their only way to kill these monsters, but he was just a kid. A lost kid, trapped on another Earth. He was Barry's responsibility. But he _couldn't_ let Zoom go. Not when they finally had him. Though, Barry realized, they really didn't. They hadn't had him at all. Zoom had them from the beginning.

"Don't let him go". Harry's voice echoed over the comms, "Don't. If he goes free, he will kill many more than just one man".

"Child." Jesse's shocked voice rattled through the comms. "Not man, he is a _child_ dad. An innocent kid".

"Do you see the way he stands, Jesse? Have you looked into his eyes, seen him rip through those monsters? He is no more a child than I am. Or than Joe is. Have you ever read the old Greek tales of demigods? His life was not meant to be easy, and was destined to end in tragedy. Do _not_ let Zoom go. This is our chance. Our only chance". Harry's voice tapered off at the end, the only indication that he was bothered by his own statement.

Harry was right. This was their best chance. Zoom was dangerous. But Barry had a blind spot, one that drove his decisions before and after becoming the Flash. He couldn't let Zoom hurt his friends. Yes, he counted Percy as a friend already. It was funny, they had known each other only for a day. But life or death situations do that to you. In the super hero business, you had this 6th sense about people. Barry, even when the kid was in the pipeline, had somehow known that Percy was a good guy. Through their conversations earlier that day, he learned that Percy was sarcastic, funny, and loyal. He had a family, a girlfriend, friends on his Earth. He didn't deserve this ending. This _wasn't his war_. Barry knew what decision Percy would make if their situations were reversed. So Barry made his, with no regrets. He leaned forward, and removed the cuff from Zoom's leg. The speedster was up and moving, gone in the blink of an eye. The hounds disappeared as well, sucked into a breach.

Oliver cursed and kicked the space where Zoom had been. Cisco took off his Vibe glasses and held his head in his hands. Harry ranted over the comms. But Barry was already on the move, racing over to the fountain where Percy had laid. He wasn't there. Barry raced around the entire city center, panic filling his mind. He wasn't there. He wasn't there. Zoom had double crossed him. He should have expected that.

Iris's voice broke over the comms, cutting off the current chaos. "Stop arguing. The decision has been made. Barry, do you have Percy?"

Barry's voice caught in his throat, frustration mounting until he could barely see clearly.

"Barry?" Iris demanded

"He's gone. Zoom took him". Barry ignored the cursing over the comms, reaching down instead for the bronze sword gleaming in the grass. "I failed. He's gone". He whispered, fingering the blade as it retracted into a pen and then disappeared as quickly as Percy had.


	7. Percy Needs a Tracker

**Okay guys, I decided to go ahead and include this bit (mostly because I love the Heroes of Olympus characters). It started as a mini-chapter and then ended up as a full-sized chapter. This one covers Camp Half Blood's reaction to Percy going missing...again. It is from Annabeth's POV and takes place the same day as the Team Flash/Arrow vs. Zoom downtown battle on Earth-1. Enjoy!**

* * *

Annabeth sat back in her seat, feeling the pressure change as the airplane smoothly landed at JFK Airport. Piper was sleeping in the seat across from her, headphones steadily pulsing with the bass from her music. The small cabin's lights clicked on, illuminating the private plane's posh interior. Piper blinked a couple times, then stretched like a cat as she stood up, grabbing her bag. There were many upsides to having a rich friend, but the best had to be the private plane. No security lines, no annoying passengers, minimal delays. Annabeth smoothly stepped into the aisle with her backpack on her shoulders, anxious to get off the plane. It had been a great week off, away from the stresses of school and life as the head counselor of Cabin 6. But she had missed Percy and Camp Half Blood. She was ready to be home.

She told herself that her haste to return to camp had nothing to do with the phone call Piper had received from Jason yesterday. Piper had said Jason had sounded concerned, stating briefly that he had been detained by something at camp, and would delay his return to Camp Jupiter for a couple days. She had placated Annabeth, suggesting that perhaps it was something with one of the minor deities or another pontifex-related delay. That wouldn't be uncommon. But Annabeth had a feeling in her gut that something was not right. And she had learned to trust her gut by now. Nevertheless, she had forced herself to do school work on the flight, telling herself that she was on her way back, nothing could get her there faster, and there was no use worrying. But the graphs and logarithms on her calculus homework seemed to swim as she stared at the same problem for two hours.

Piper's chauffeur grabbed their suitcases and loaded them into the BMW, indicating for them to follow. He opened the back doors for them, then slid into the front and shifted the car into gear. He was moving quickly, as if he had picked up their desire to get to camp. Annabeth looked out the window as they drove through Brooklyn and Queens up Long Island. Piper tapped her on the shoulder, offering her a friendly smile. "I am sure everything is okay. I mean, come on. Jason would have said if it was urgent, right?"

Annabeth didn't agree. She loved Piper, and sincerely liked Jason. But he was used to dealing with problems himself. He also didn't want anything to ruin Piper's week off. He might have downplayed whatever was going on so that they could finish off their vacation. She quickly banished any hint of doubt from her face and offered Piper a weak smile. Everything was fine. Camp Half-Blood was strong. She could handle anything, as long as she had Percy and the camp behind her.

" _We're staying together"_ Annabeth could hear his voice as clearly as if he were there. Even though they had been dangling over the pit to Tartarus, about to begin one of the most terrifying experiences of their lives, she was calm. Because Percy had her, and they could handle anything together. " _You're not getting away from me. Never again._ "

"As long as we're together" she whispered, answering his voice in her head. She took deep breaths. No reason to get anxious. What was camp trouble compared to the last two Great Prophecies?

The chauffeur turned onto the narrow road that lead to the strawberry fields. He stopped the car, turning around as he always did and asking, "Are you sure this is right, Ms. McLean?" Piper rolled her eyes, grabbing her bag and opening her car door before he could even get out of the car. "Yes. Camp is just beyond the fields. Come on, Annabeth". Piper slid out of the car, with Annabeth right behind her. She threw a jaunty wave the driver and wheeled her suitcase behind her as they climbed the hill. Annabeth held her breath as they reached the crest of the hill, looking over the top at the camp. She sighed in relief. The camp was intact. Nothing was burning, everything was fine. She rushed ahead of Piper and walked through the camp boundaries, past Peleus the dragon and into the camp. Greetings from campers rose up around her. A wave from Will, pokes from the Stoll brothers, and even a nod from Clarisse. All exceedingly normal. But something was wrong. Will looked worried as he waved, the Stoll brothers didn't jab her nearly hard enough, and Clarisse had... _pity_ in her eyes. Something was very wrong. Annabeth ditched her suitcase in front of her cabin and started to jog towards the Big House, ignoring Piper's calls behind her. Percy would tell her why everyone was worried. He might be a seaweed brain, but he was always in the loop around camp. They got in early, that's why he wasn't waiting for her by Thalia's tree. Probably in the Big House, avoiding the Stoll brothers and drinking blue coke.

Annabeth practically blew the porch doors open, not even pausing to say hello to the other campers. She peeked into the game room, finding Chiron, Jason, and Nico gathered around a map on the ping pong table. Annabeth listened for a minute, catching bits and pieces of the conversation. "...Still no sign...barrier breached" Jason was muttering, crossing out and circling things on the map. Nico took over the conversation then, "...Checked with Dad, no sign...good thing...no word from nature spirits...need Grover". Then their voices dropped, and Annabeth only caught one more word: Percy. Her heart plummeted. Percy. Something was wrong. She watched the three men, noticing a distinct look of worry on Chiron and Nico's faces, and, was that _guilt_ , on Jason's face. That was it. She was getting answers, now. The daughter of Athena breezed into the room, ignoring their shocked looks, and buried the knife Percy had gifted her for their one-year anniversary into the table. "Where is he?"

Chiron held out his hands, trying to calm the furious demigod, "Now Annabeth, hold on just a minute".

But Annabeth had already rounded on Jason, her finger leveled at his chest. "What did you do? Don't deny it, something is wrong. Why else would you have not called? What did you do with Percy?" Now if Annabeth had thought this through, she would have realized that she was being ridiculous. Her accusations were not logical, absurd. Jason had proven himself over and over. But her Percy was gone, again. And Jason was guilty. He had done something. And suddenly, it wasn't Jason standing there, but the arai, cackling gleefully. "He's gone, daughter of Athena. Consider this payback for escaping Tartarus" they whispered. She shook her head, then lunged for Jason, capturing his neck in the crook of her elbow. "You thought we took him away before, this time we actually did" the whispers grew louder. Chiron and Nico moved to stop her, as did Piper as she came running in. But Annabeth didn't acknowledge any of them. She pushed on Jason's neck, cutting off his air supply. "Where is he?" She hissed, unalarmed by the red shade of his face.

"Annabeth. Calm down". Piper's voice made Annabeth pause. She loosened her grip on Jason slightly. "You don't want to hurt Jason. He is going to tell you everything as soon as you let him go". Annabeth released Jason confusedly. Why did she want to hurt him again?

Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief as Jason coughed and re-inflated his lungs. Annabeth shook off the effects of Piper's charmspeak and helped Jason up. "Sorry Jason. Didn't mean to go that far. But I will kick your podex if you don't tell me everything right now. And Piper" Annabeth turned her glare to her friend, "I understand why you did that this time. Don't ever charmspeak me again".

Piper nodded but didn't look apologetic. Annabeth wasn't upset. Piper had just done what needed to be done in the moment. She turned back to Jason and Nico, her heart sinking. She already suspected, but she needed to hear the words. "What happened?"

Jason looked nervously at her, then started muttering something about capture the flag and the beach. Nico glanced at him, then took over, "He was here for Capture the Flag in the morning, then IM'ed you. Percy went for a swim at the beach after that. That was around noon. We didn't see him all afternoon, but that isn't unusual. You know how long he can spend at the beach". Annabeth nodded in agreement. "But he didn't show up for dinner. Percy _always_ shows up for food. So we started looking. Annabeth" Nico took a breath, "Percy has been missing for 2 days now".

Annabeth started hyperventilating at the word "missing". But she forced herself to stay calm. She was the daughter of Athena, a head counselor, the most senior camper at Camp Half Blood. She would not make a fool of herself again. "Thank you Nico". She turned to look at Jason, who flinched a bit at the severe expression on her face. "I am not happy I wasn't notified, Jason. _Not happy_. Tell me where you have looked". He pointed at the map, "Everywhere inside the camp borders, as well as a 5 mile radius outside the camp. We checked in Manhattan, sent some people to Montauk, and IM'ed Camp Jupiter. He hasn't shown up yet. But we will find him". Jason looked extremely determined. And exhausted. It was clear he hadn't slept since Percy disappeared. Nico looked the same way, Annabeth noticed. This was a nightmare, the beginning of the Giant War all over again.

Nico rubbed his face, then looked at Annabeth with determination, "I checked with Hades, just in case. Percy's alive, Annabeth. He isn't in the underworld".

Annabeth breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't think Percy would go down that easy, and thought she would _feel_ if Percy died,but it was nice to have that reassurance.

Just as she was getting ready to suggest some more places to look, Leo came running into the room. "Guys, you have got to see this".

They ran out after Leo, through the woods and to the Camp border. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. "Leo" Piper said hesitantly, "What is it"?

"Notice anything about the camp border?" Leo inquired. Annabeth turned her keen eyes to the border. If you looked carefully, you could see a slightly glassy, gold sheen that was the camp border. The mist hid it well enough that you had to really concentrate, but it was there. She looked right in front of a small clearing, and noticed the difference immediately. The border was shattered in that one place, like a really big baseball came careening through the border. And it was shaped like..."A human". Annabeth said, fingering the border carefully, "Someone broke through the border. It's like the border started to accept them, then realized they weren't supposed to be into camp and tried to reject them. But the person broke through. How is that possible?" She turned to the hyper hispanic boy. His hair was tousled, and he had black bags under his eyes. So he hadn't slept either, obviously relying on caffeine to function.

"I have no idea. But whoever was coming through had to be super strong to break through. Or" he amended, framing the hole with his fingers as if he was taking a picture, "really fast".

"Thanks Leo. This gives us a starting point at least". Annabeth glanced once more at the border, committing the shape and size to memory. She then started back towards the Big House.

"No hay problema chica". Leo walked next to her, nervously fidgeting with some small mechanical parts while he walked. "You know, I have been building a couple drones. I'm going to send those out tomorrow. The mist should keep mortals from seeing them. That way, they can search using facial recognition. Cover some more ground. But, since the camp border was broken, I am assuming he was taken, and that he isn't going to be anywhere we would guess".

"I know. I will have Camp Jupiter send out their eagles to search around them. We will find him". Annabeth tried to sound confident, but she didn't fool Leo. He stopped, turning towards her, his hands going unnaturally still. "Look, Annabeth, for what it's worth, I am really sorry. But I'm not going to stop looking, and neither is anyone from either camp. And when we find him, we are going to implant a tracker in him. I have already made a kick-butt tracker, all ready and waiting for him".

"And I will help you". Annabeth firmly agreed with Leo. Percy was getting a tracker after this, whether he liked it or not. "Now if you'll excuse me" Annabeth paused, letting the first traces of sorrow seep into her voice as they walked into the Big House, "I have to call Sally and let her know Percy is missing again".


	8. Ocean of Darkness

The first thing Percy noticed when he woke up was a constant _drip...drip...drip_ near his head. The second thing he registered was that his head hurt. A lot. Without opening his eyes, he attempted to determine where he was. It didn't feel like his cabin. The air was too cold and the bed was too hard and Poseidon would never let a leak in. Plus, Percy couldn't smell the sea. Honestly, he couldn't smell anything at all.

He cracked open his eyes, finding only more darkness. Great. Definitely not his cabin then. He moved his head up, only to be rewarded with the fiercest headache he had ever felt. The world spun around him, and the drip of water was replaced by a persistent ringing in his ears. With the intention of rubbing his eyes, Percy moved his hand only to find that he couldn't. Confused, he tried again, then started frantically pulling at it when he realized it was restrained. Thick leather straps held his arms to the bed. To the table, he amended as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Same with his legs, torso, and neck. He started to thrash, panicking at the thought of being restrained. The worst part was that he couldn't remember what happened. At least he didn't have total amnesia, he thought grimly. He could still remember his name and his past.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You aren't going to get anywhere". A raspy voice shot out from the darkness, Percy flinching at the sudden noise. The figure chuckled and turned on a light. Immediately, Percy had to close his eyes. The light was blinding and moved his headache from  
"I pulled a Jason and got hit with a brick" to "A Hyperborean giant is sitting on my head". When he was finally able to open his eyes, he saw a terrifying figure in black standing before him. He panicked for a moment, before remembering the last few days. He relaxed a bit, though his mind was racing. "Oh, it's just you. Mind letting me up?"

Zoom laughed, his deep voice echoing off the walls of the room. Percy could see that they were in a small room with metal walls. And no door. No, scratch that. There was a folding door behind Zoom. The door placement combined with the echoing noises coming from outside the room clued Percy in. "I'm in a storage container? Really, you can't get much more generic than that. I mean, at least it isn't a warehouse. Though, to be honest, it's kinda the same thing".

Zoom grinned grotesquely. "Don't worry, godling. You won't remember any of this".

"What?" Percy really wished he could have thought of a better response, but all his brain power was going towards trying to get out of these stupid restraints.

"Concussion. And intravenous anesthetic. Not a good mix". Zoom adjusted something by the side of his table. An IV bag. He flicked the spike port, allowing more of the liquid to flow through the tube and into Percy. He squirmed, trying to displace the bag or get loose to remove the IV. But the straps did their duty, and he slowly faded into unconsciousness.

He flitted in and out of consciousness. Every time he woke up, he had to take a few minutes to remember where he was. By the time he remembered, he was already headed back under. In one particularly good bought of consciousness, he noticed another needle in each of his arms. Wondering what that could possibly be for, but not having the energy to fight the pull of unconsciousness to find out.

Sometimes he woke up and couldn't remember anything, thinking he was still in New York with Smelly Gabe. Other times, all he could think about was Annabeth. Why weren't they together again? Don't worry Percy, she will come for you, she always does. Gods, she was going to kill him.

One time he woke up and was able to remember everything. He reached out for the water he heard dripping earlier, but it was slippery, hard to grasp. As soon as he would get a handle on it again, he would fade into the never ending blackness.

He had no idea how much time was passing. That and the amnesia were, quite honestly, terrifying. After a trip through Tartarus, not much fazed Percy anymore. But amnesia and losing track of time, that hit him to the core. So every time he woke up, he tried to find the time. Tried to remember what happened. He made frustratingly little progress, until he noticed something on the table.

Dash marks. 24 of them in a straight little line. He had been tallying every time he woke up. Unconsciously. He would have to tell Annabeth that. She would be impressed. Okay, let's be honest. She would roll her eyes and say, "Looks like you have a brain deep deep deep down, Seaweed Brain". Or judo flip him. Yeah, he would even take that gratefully right now. Gods, his mom. She was going to freak. He felt horrible, always worrying his mom like this...

And he was out again. And again. Pulled under the crashing waves then spit onto the beach before the tide took him out once more.

As he was unconscious, he would catch glimpses of demigod dreams. Sometimes ones he previously had, sometimes new. Grover in a wedding dress, Daedalus and Icarus, Leo with a drone, Kronos trying to turn him. _Twins snuff out the angel's breath, who holds the key to endless death_. Maria DeAngelo and Hades arguing, Poseidon's fury, Tyson and Grover following his scent, Annabeth taking the sky. Barry and Oliver yelling, whether at each other or at someone else, Percy couldn't tell. Ciso closing his eyes and concentrating, the air shimmering around him with an aura similar to that of the mist. Felicity typing at the computer, Barry running around the city, Diggle cleaning his gun, useless tidbits of information circling round and round his head.

Why can't the gods give him anything useful? Percy's anger started to rise. He was always put in these impossible situations, and the gods never help. Just sent him these useless, disjointed dreams of the Flash and team trying to find him...

Wait. Percy tried to think back to the Cortex in his more lucid moments, recalling that Team Flash had all sorts of computers and fancy equipment. Why couldn't they find him? They must have no way of tracking him, of singling out him among millions of people. But they would be on the lookout for something unusual. So he needed to catch their attention. Something that wouldn't normally happen in Central City. At least, Percy assumed he was still in Central City. A tidal wave would be a good one, but given his inability to grasp even the drops of water in the storage container, he doubted he would be able to form anything noticeable. He was pretty much stuck on the table, and rubbish at computers or technology, so sending an electronic signal was out. Which left him with only one other option.

Percy continued to drift between unconsciousness and consciousness, waiting for the right moment. Finally, it came. The speed demon was there, sitting in a chair next to Percy with needles in his arms. Zoom bared his teeth in his signature grin, moving slightly closer to Percy. "How are we feeling, little demigod?"

Percy tried to answer, but his mouth felt like cotton and he was so tired. He wanted to just shut his eyes and return to the darkness, but he knew that this was his chance. He tried to force himself to focus, straining on the leather restraints.

"No use, Son of Poseidon. You simply do not have enough energy right now. The procedure can be very...draining".

Wait a second; procedure? Percy's planning paused for a minute at that, and he finally managed to choke out a sentence, "Procedure? You trying to steal my good looks, sparky?"

But Zoom just chuckled, "Not quite. I have attempted this procedure before, but never has the subject survived this long. The monsters were right, you _are_ a strong one. Which is good. As seen in the woods, I need more demigod blood to get through the camp barrier".

The storage container went silent as Percy processed Zoom's statement, horror building. "You have done this before? To other demigods?"

"Yes. Fortunately, your kind has become...comfortable...after the last Giant War. Not careful enough. It gave me an opening".

Percy's rage returned suddenly, an emotional tidal wave set to eliminate anything in its path. Percy no longer had any doubts about his plan. Yeah, it was stupid and crazy, but when were his plans not? Plus, this creature needed to pay for killing his friends. His family, those he had sworn to protect. Reserving his strength for his plan, Percy simply asked: "How do you even know about us? And if all you needed was demigod's blood to get through the border, the monsters would have done that already".

"The person must _host_ the blood of Olympus. And a speedster's body is the only one capable of fighting off the golden ichor's protection mechanism. A human's DNA cannot sustain the ichor without having Olympian DNA, because it will rip the cells apart and basically burn you from the inside out. Monsters are the same way, the ichor literally being poisonous to them. But a speedster's rate of regeneration and ability to hold electrical charge allows us to host it. I am nothing if not a scientist, godling. As to how I know about your kind, well, I have been traveling the multiverse for years now. You are not well hidden for one who knows what to look for".

Everything made more sense now (except that medical mumbo-jumbo; Percy didn't understand much of that but Annabeth or Caitlin would): the monster army, Zoom's interest in camp, even the needles sticking out of Percy's arms, slowing draining him of blood while filling his body with the blood of Zoom. Keeping him alive to be drained some more. A human blood bank. Percy could now place the "off" feeling he had before. His lifeblood was draining out of him, being replaced with the poison of a dark speedster's blood. Not to mention the drug interactions and the probable concussion. He needed to act now, while he still could. While he was alive. Because Percy knew this: he was getting out of here alive. This was not where his tale ended, on a strange world being drained. No sir, Percy Jackson did not survive Tartarus and two Great Prophecies for this.

"Why do you want demigod blood?" Percy asked, as he put his plan in motion. It was slow, painful, but it would work. He knew that. He had done it before, in an equally desperate situation.

"What I have always wanted; to get faster. Though your blood isn't as good as a speedster's speed force, it's about as close as you can get. And there is a whole camp, just waiting to be drained. Then, the Flash won't be able to stop me; not on any Earth". Zoom stood up, disconnecting the IV apparatus that was feeding him Percy's blood. He walked over to Percy's IV, flicking the spike port again. "I think that is enough from you. Time to go back to sleep".

But Percy had other plans, reaching for the painful pull in his gut as he drew up his power from the ground, fracturing the foundation of the storage facility. Zoom stumbled, obviously confused why there was suddenly an earthquake. The quake grew bigger and bigger, as Percy put all of his effort, all of his hope, into this one act of defiance.

The speed demon realized what was happening when the door of the container fell on top of him, leaving Percy unharmed. Racing out from under the warped metal door, Zoom ran to the table and knocked Percy hard on the head. But he was too late. Because Percy Jackson, son of the Earthshaker, had brought the entire storage facility down, sinking beneath the sea of concrete and ash. 


	9. Let the Earth Shake

2 weeks. Barry had been looking for Percy Jackson for _two weeks_. Team Flash and Arrow had looked all over the city and found nothing. Countless sleepless nights, restless days of searching, nothing. As if the demigod had never existed.

After the first couple days, Team Arrow had taken their leave and returned to Star City. Oliver and Barry had argued about it, but in hindsight, he had to admit it made sense. They had their own issues to deal with, including one Damien Dark, and Oliver couldn't be gone too long while running for mayor. Felicity assured him that her team would be ready to pack up and assist if they found Zoom or Percy. They were keeping their ears to the ground there too, and would let Barry know if they found anything. Double their resources and make it harder for Zoom to take them all out in one fell stroke. Made sense.

Team Flash itself wasn't in great shape. Barry was riddled by guilt, Caitlin was frosty again as Cisco exhausted himself every day trying to vibe Percy. Harry was pissed at Barry for letting Zoom go, and Jesse was angry at her dad for suggesting they shouldn't let Zoom go. It was a disaster on all fronts.

Zoom. Even the thought of the name brings a sneer to his normally happy face. He was poison, corrupting everything good in Barry's life. His job, the Flash, Patty, now his team, heck, Zoom even took his ability to walk for a while. He took a deep breath, trying to stop the dark thoughts that came with his enemy. They needed to find him. Because pretty soon, he would grow bored of whatever he was doing with Percy, and come after more innocents. Barry half-heartedly agreed Harry's proclamation last night: if Percy was still alive, then he wouldn't be for long.

He walked into the cortex after a very long day at the precinct. A few of the monsters were still wreaking havoc around Central City and causing lots of paperwork for the CSI. Cisco and Caitlin had finally discovered that replicas of Mick's heat gun and Lenard's cold gun worked to kill the monsters. After that, it was the simple matter of tracking them down and eliminating them. Which wasn't hard since they weren't exactly low profile.

But apparently their abundant resources did squat when looking for a hydrokinetic demigod or a psychopath speedster. Banishing the negativity from his mind, he tapped a fiercely concentrating Cisco on the shoulder. "Anything?"

Cisco removed the lollipop from his mouth, blue this time. "Nothing. Per usual".

Barry grunted in response, moving to look at the computer monitors. Cisco was right. Literally nothing. No meta sightings, no high profile crimes, no natural disasters, no tech gone missing.

The phone suddenly rang, startling both Barry and Cisco out of their chairs. Both rushed to grab the vibrating cell phone, but Barry unsurprisingly got there first. "Hello?"

"Barry! I think I have something". Felicity chattered over the phone at high speed. Sometimes even Barry had a hard time keeping up with her, and he was the king of chattering.

"What?"

"A earthquake size 8 on the Richter scale just hit Star City. Now earthquakes aren't exactly uncommon around here, but this one came out of nowhere, contained no aftershocks, and was centered on an abandoned storage facility. That is like, bad guy 101 for places to hide the good guy. And, get this". Felicity hesitated, then barreled forward, "Look, I did some digging. Poseidon? Not just the Greek god of the seas. He also has domain over horses, and is known as the earthshaker".

Barry's heart pounded. "So if Percy can control water, theoretically, he could cause an earthquake?"

"Yes". Felicity sounded sure of herself now, "Look, it's not foolproof, but this is the best lead we've got. And honestly, I think it is the best one we are going to get. Get over here now, Barry. Because that earthquake? It leveled everything in a 1/2 mile radius. If Percy is alive after that, he won't be for long. We need to get to him before Zoom does. And Zoom moves fast".

"Yeah, that's the understatement of the century. I am on my way. Cisco and the rest of the team will follow". Barry hung up the phone. Quickly relaying Felicity's message, he donned his cowl and raced off towards Star City.

He crossed the distance in a matter of minutes, speeding to a stop in the Arrow Cave. He turned to Felicity, who had luckily had the foresight to gather all the papers under paperweights. She immediately turned a tv screen towards Barry, detailing where the earthquake had hit. "Oliver and the rest of the crew are already on-site. Run, Barry, run".

Barry flashed out of the underground hideout, moving faster than he had in a long time. His near photographic memory came in handy yet again as he navigated the streets of Star City with ease. Directing his path to the warehouse district, he weaved through the buildings until he reached a chasm in the ground. Rubble was piled haphazardly within a half-mile of the location Barry had been given. And at the center: a large hole, filled with concrete and metal pieces bent beyond recognition. Oliver and Diggle were digging in one side of the pile while Thea as Speedy and Laurel as the Black Canary kept a close lookout. Barry ran up, stopping by Oliver. "Arrow".

"Flash". Was the grunted reply. The burly man didn't stop even to look at Barry. "We have been hearing noises from below the pile, around here. I think that Zoom is trying to dig his way out of the rubble".

"He survived?"

"Undoubtedly. Felicity said something about phasing to dig his way out? I am not sure what that means but I am sure it means something to you".

"Yeah". Barry paused. "That means we need to dig faster".

He joined in on the effort, making more headway than the others by attempting something similar to the gaps Zoom was surely making using phasing. He was not quite as successful, but he was able to throw some lighting to make up the slack. He could hear the ruins shifting with great groans and squeals. The whole pile was being destabilized as it was dug through from both ends. Barry, Oliver, and Diggle attempted to go faster, while Laurel dropped her batons and joined in on the effort. Felicity, however much Barry liked her, was chattering unhelpful things such as "he's getting closer" and "hurry up" in his ear.

Finally, they removed the metal and were left with only concrete. Oliver went to continue digging, but Barry stopped him. "Wait. Listen".

If Barry strained his ears to their furthest reach, he could hear the sound of pounding concrete. He felt the static electricity in the air that forewarned the coming of a speedster. He looked over, and saw Oliver realize the same thing. "He's coming up".

The team and Barry prepared themselves, knowing that they needed to contain him quickly. But, faster than Barry thought possible, the dark speedster blasted out of the rubble and knocked all of them on their behinds. He was faster. Zoom was _faster_. How was that possible? He was already running circles around the Flash, and now Barry was practically standing still compared to Zoom. The Flash stood up and attempted to retaliate, but, with no hesitation, Zoom dropped a large piece of concrete on his legs. Barry screamed, feeling his bones shatter and warm blood seep through his calf and thigh. This was it. Barry couldn't run, couldn't fight. This would be his death.

"Hello, Flash". The speedster rasped, his claws scratching at Barry's cowl. "I'm done playing games. You are going to die, and I want to see your face as you realize there is nothing you can do".

The hood was torn off Barry's head in pieces as he stared Zoom straight in the eyes, "I think I should be afforded the same courtesy, don't you?'

Zoom chuckled, hand vibrating "Oh no, Flash. It brings me great pleasure to know that you died without even knowing my name. I still need your speed, of course. But that can easily be extracted within the first few minutes after death".

Barry's life flashed before his eyes as the claw descended towards his chest. Suddenly, in a flash of blue light, Zoom went flying out behind Barry. In his place stood Cisco, hand outstretched like Reverb, He had used his vibe powers to propel Zoom away from Barry.

"I have no idea how I did that". Cisco seemed to be stunned as well, then recovered and started to lift the rubble off Barry's legs.

"Great timing, Cisco". Barry cried out in pain as the concrete shifted against his broken legs. "No time for this, I am useless right now in a fight. If you can do that again, start down that hole. We need to find Percy and get the heck out of here".

Cisco nodded once, then started to work on widening the hole. It wasn't quite what he had done before, but whatever he was doing was effective. Pretty soon, the way was clear to the area Zoom had emerged from. Barry could hear team Arrow as well as Joe and Harry fighting Zoom behind him. Joe and Diggle appeared long enough to remove the rubble from Barry's legs. Caitlin appeared seemingly out of nowhere and painfully set his legs so that they would heal properly. She then grabbed a flashlight and headed down the hole with Joe while Cisco joined team Arrow in the fight against Zoom.

Barry looked over his shoulder. The fight was not going well. He impatiently laid there, willing his legs to heal faster. Unfortunately, he remained grounded for now, his attempts at mental manipulation unsuccessful. In another instance of the world's greatest irony, the Flash needed more time.

The earth started to shake again, this time controlled, precise. The ground seemed to skip around Barry and the rest of his team, moving directly for Zoom. Team Arrow hurriedly danced out of the way as the ground disappeared under the speedster. He was caught off guard for a moment, freefalling through the air before using his speed and debris to propel him back onto solid ground. Zoom growled, then made a beeline for the hole he had escaped from. Barry, seeing his opportunity, reached out at super speed and tripped Zoom, sending him reeling towards a fissure in the ground.

The dark speedster recovered, but stood there in shock for a moment before continuing on his way. Attempting to detain him again, Barry reached out, but his enemy was too far away. He struggled to get up, knowing that Caitlin and Joe (and hopefully Percy) were down there.

But Barry was worrying for nothing. Zoom couldn't get anywhere close to the hole without the ground throwing him back. Just when he thought things couldn't get any weirder, water rushed out of the hole, spitting out a very wet but very much alive Joe and Caitlin.

"What is happening? Is Percy okay?"

Caitlin coughed up some water, then worked on removing her hair from her face. "Okay? No, he needs medical attention. Pissed off? Yeah, definitely. That boy has some serious anger management issues".

Just as she finished, a hurricane of water formed above the hole. Wind buffeted team Flash and Arrow, as Zoom, the intended target, barely remained standing. And standing in the center of the hurricane, was an extremely angry son of Poseidon. Barry watched with dark satisfaction as the fury of the Greek descended on Zoom.


	10. And the Ocean Roar

Percy was having a bad day. Actually, scratch that. Percy was having a bad 5 years. He had almost died too many times to count, been a part of two wars and Great Prophecies, lost his memory, attended two very intense summer camps (that if they weren't hidden, would most definitely be condemned for child endangerment), and generally been chased from one end of the Earth to the next. This really wasn't the worst situation he had been in. But the last couple weeks certainly were up there.

He had been hit, shot, put in prison, tranquilized, thrown onto another _Earth_ , been knocked on the head so many times he was certain he had brain damage, then kidnapped. Oh, and don't forget the whole blood draining and being crushed underneath tons of rubble thing. Then, to top things off, that _monster_ had been draining demigods for weeks now, using it as a sick experiment to get faster. They could hurt Percy, but _nobody_ touched his family.

Which is why, as he laid dying under the concrete remains of the storage facility, Percy made a vow. If he ever got out of here, he would ensure Zoom never touched a demigod again.

He seemed to be down there for hours, though in all actuality it was only a few minutes. He could feel the foundation shifting, someone digging their way out, then someone digging their way in. Finally, he saw it. A pinprick of light opened up above him, an intoxicating rush of fresh air wafting down the shaft. His starved lungs tried to consume all of it at once, desperate for oxygen. A concerned face, Caitlin, hovered over him as another person removed rubble from his body. Her audible gasp when the damage was unearthed was enough to tell Percy that he looked as bad as he felt. She was talking to him, but he couldn't hear her. He couldn't hear anything really. Attempting to read her lips, he finally got the message: stay down, you might have spinal damage.

Well, screw that. Percy had made a promise. He was free, so Zoom would pay. It was as if the gods has blessed his vengeance, his thirst for revenge. Either that or they just liked seeing him suffer too much to let him die. Deciding to go with the first one, Percy ignored the concerned faces and hands trying to push him down. He sat up with a groan, evaluating his environment. He was a good 100 meters below the surface, surrounded by a cavern about the size for two people. Percy laughed, aware that he sounded deranged but not having the energy to care. Zoom had saved him to save himself. How ironic was that?

Though his hearing had mostly returned, Percy continued to ignore the protests of Joe and Caitlin. He felt out through the ground, sending out small shockwaves barely large enough to be noticed. Using it like echolocation (yes, he paid attention in school sometimes), he located Zoom on the surface, fighting team Arrow and Cisco. Barry was laying on the ground...trapped? Unconscious? Percy couldn't tell. But then he found his quarry, breaking up the earth around and under Zoom as he continued to run. Using Percy's blood, moving faster than before. But it was Percy's blood, and it acting as a homing beacon for the demigod. However fast Zoom was, he couldn't outrun the earth.

He knew he had to get out of here. He could now feel the ocean nearby, the myriad of underground water sources below him. Pushing out with the water, he ejected Joe and Caitlin from the pit, getting them clear of the danger. Then, pulling the water to him like an old friend, he burst out of the hole in a display of rage and fury. Gathering, pulling, drawing the water to only to push it out in a never ending circle, a hurricane of destruction. The winds joined in symphony with the water, wailing as if they had been waiting for this release. With a quick prayer of thanks to Zeus for his cooperation (apparently even old thunderpants didn't like Zoom), he directed their pent up fury towards the object of his wrath.

He could see the fear and concern from his new friends, but he had no time for that now. He could feel his body protesting his use of power, wanting to sink into the never ending ocean of darkness again. Blood was dripping from his head and his chest, but he ignored it. He had to hold on, prevent this monster from hurting anyone else.

He trapped Zoom in a sphere of water, eerily similar to the maneuver he had used on Barry in the park. Calming the raging storm around him, he landed next to Barry with a stumble. The poor guy's legs looked broken, and Caitlin was attempting to bandage them so that he could move. "How long until he can join the fight?"

Caitlin sent Percy a disapproving look, answering shortly, "He won't. Even once the bones mend, he needs to stay off his legs for a while".

"Yeah and I need a sick day. Neither are going to happen. I'm going to need him to take down Zoom. But for now, I need Barry Allen, not the Flash. We need to keep Zoom from, well, zooming off to my Earth. Any thoughts?"

Barry looked at Harry, who shook his head. "We thought we had trapped him before. But he just came back through".

"How? In English, please. I don't understand any of the sciency mumbo-jumbo".

"We sealed the opened breaches between our two Earths. We thought that only very special circumstances would allow for breaches to be opened again. A singularity. But obviously, Zoom himself can open them himself without those conditions". Barry shook his head. "I am sorry, Percy. Maybe if we had months we could figure out a way. But right now, before Zoom uses a breach? Not likely".

Well, that sucked. Percy pulled his hair in frustration. Why couldn't anything be simple? Why couldn't he just lock the metaphorical door, or beat Zoom over the head with Riptide until he agreed to leave demigods alone...

Wait. Science couldn't make Zoom do something he didn't want to. But Percy's life didn't revolve around science (thank the gods). It was mythological, defying the expectations of a logical and rational world. And though this whole breaches and multiple earths thing was super freaky, it was supposedly very scientific, still subject to the laws of nature. Which meant to thwart Zoom, Percy needed to transcend the laws of nature. Overrule them. Obviously Percy himself couldn't do that, but he knew a bunch of egotistical, finicky beings who could.

With a plan quickly taking shape, Percy walked carefully over to Cisco. "We need to move this party elsewhere. There is too much potential for collateral damage here. Too much attention. What's the best you can do with all these people?"

Cisco hesitated. "One jump? I can get us to Canada, maybe? But that will be it. I have used more energy than I have, like, ever today. That one jump and I will be sleeping like a baby for a week or so".

Cisco was really useful in a fight, but Percy had no choice at this point. "Okay, Canada. Make it quick. I can hold Zoom until we blast out of here. Can Barry open a stable portal to my world if we buy some time?"

Cisco frowned, "Theoretically, yeah, but we would need to be back in Central City, with the lab and the particle accelerator. But I can't get us there, and normal travel will be too dangerous with Zoom lurking".

"Okay, so we might have to bring the party here". Percy hesitated for a moment as he had to refocus on Zoom, who was starting to make headway on getting out of the water bubble. The more Zoom struggled, the more his head ached. Percy just wasn't strong enough right now to resist Zoom's constant attempts to phase through the water. "Do it now, Cisco. I can't hold him for much longer".

Percy lost track of time then, all of his focus directed his water sphere while Cisco made preparations behind him. Both teams looked uncomfortable with the thought of fleeing, but they realized at this point, they were severely outmatched. With Zoom's added speed and two key players down, they were at a disadvantage. Time and space bent sideways as Cisco opened a large breach, pulling the entire team through as Percy let go of his tenuous hold on the water and was sucked through.

And suddenly, the world was quiet other than the sound of birds chirping and the smell of pine trees. Percy's mind was sent back to his quest for Camp Jupiter, with Hazel and Frank and the Pax. What he would give for the aid of the Amazons right about now. Or Frank and Hazel. Hades, he would even take Ella right about now.

Percy felt a tap on his shoulder, then he was being led to a tree stump. He sat down, all his energy expended as Caitlin started cleaning out his many gashes and injuries. He hissed as she felt the back of his head and heard her tutting, mumbling something about a concussion. She then worked her way to his back, where she discovered a few broken vertebrae and a spinal sprain.

"You're lucky to be alive, Percy". She stated while binding his very broken ribs. She then started prodding at his arms, hesitating when Percy recoiled at her touch. "You have a lot of bruising here. What did he do?"

"He drained me". Percy answered, attempting to wiggle out of Caitlin's grasp. He had never enjoyed the infirmary, and they didn't have time for this right now. "Used my blood to make him faster'.

"What? How does that work?" Harry leaned forward, suddenly very curious. Caitlin glared at him. "Not right now, Harry. He needs to sleep. Preferably for a week or two".

"No!" Percy finally was able to stand, ignoring the black spots that danced in front of his eyes. He walked quickly over to Cisco, while Catlin harrumphed and turned to work on Barry. Cisco was panting, his complexion pale and waxy. Percy felt bad asking this of him, but they had no other choice. He turned to face the whole group.

"I host the blood of Olympus. I am a demigod. My blood has special properties. Apparently, it makes Zoom faster. But the one thing it does for sure is get someone through the protective barriers of my camp. And now Zoom has a way to get all the demigod blood he could ever need. Not only will he slaughter hundreds of innocents, but he will use that speed to conquer all the known Earths. We don't have time for rest or recuperation. We need to act now before it is too late".

"I know that I am asking a lot of you. But please, I need your help to get back home. Cisco" Percy turned to him, "I need you to open a breach to my world. It is painfully obvious that we don't have time to mess around with experimenting and getting to Central City".

Cisco laughed humorlessly, keeping one hand on a tree to steady himself, "No. I am sorry Percy. Even at full health, I don't have a good bead on where your Earth is. I told you earlier, after that jump I was out".

Percy nodded, having expected this answer. "Then we have no other choice. Caitlin, I need you to drain my blood into Cisco".

The woods were silent again, everyone staring at Percy in obvious shock. He really didn't think his plan was that insane. He tried again, providing more details this time, "My blood will strengthen Cisco, and give him an idea as to where my Earth is. I know that Cisco can't maintain a stable breach in these conditions, but all we need is to get through once. Someone slips through, gets some help from an old friend of mine, and she can come here to help block Zoom from my Earth. Maybe even reduce his speed. But if we don't do this now, Zoom will wipe my people out. We need to move, _now_ ".

Nobody moved. Gods, for being so smart, these people were really slow on the draw. Percy spoke slower, "Now means now, people".

Caitlin finally responded, grabbing her medical bag and sorting through it, "Even if we managed to get your blood into Cisco, this could kill you. And somehow, I don't think your friend would be very happy if we appeared with your dead body".

"Yeah, she probably wouldn't be. But I am not going to die. I can feel a creek not far from here. Let me heal myself while you get set up".

Caitlin nodded like this was acceptable to her, then grabbed needles and tubes and Cisco, pulling them over to the tree stump Percy had occupied recently. Joe and Diggle helped Barry to another tree stump, checking on his legs. Barry gave Percy a thumbs up. Good, he would be ready to go when Zoom got here.

Percy nodded to Oliver, who was counting his arrows, then proceeded to the creek, letting the water slowly drift over his numerous lacerations. His concussion needed to be dealt with, so Percy grabbed that precious half piece of ambrosia from his pocket and consumed it. Instantly, he could feel his headache vanish and could feel the godly food work on his bruised body. It wasn't nearly enough, but would get him through this last battle. Because this was it. They had to win. If they didn't take out Zoom here, he would only get stronger.

An unpleasant rolling of his stomach prompted him to dry heave onto the grass, then expel a blackish liquid. The flow seemed never ending, until it suddenly stopped and Percy flopped into the clear creek water. Zoom's blood. The ambrosia had identified it as a poison. Alright, it was official. The only time Percy had felt worse than this was in Tartarus. He really hated Earth-1.

Allowing himself as much time as he could spare, Percy then trudged back up the slope. He sat down next to the tree stump currently occupied by Cisco, holding out his arms for Caitlin. Wincing as the needles entered his already bruised arms, he relinquished himself to the familiar haze of being drained. But his time, he was filled up again with the blood of a metahuman, not the black poison of Zoom. Got to be grateful for the little things.

The Arrow, Oliver, sat down next to Percy. He hesitated for a moment, then said, "You're pretty brave, kid".

Percy shrugged, "Eh, that's debatable. My girlfriend says I'm just a lucky idiot".

Oliver snorted a little bit, trying to hold in a laugh, "Yeah, I think your girlfriend and Felicity would get along really well. Look kid, this isn't your fight. We would all understand if you want to just go home, get out while you still can".

Percy looked at him incredulously, "You're kidding, right? Zoom has been kidnapping and draining my people for months now. This is more my fight than it is yours, Oliver. Plus, I never run away when my friends are in danger".

Oliver looked vastly uncomfortable, as if heartfelt conversations and emotions were his kryptonite. "I am surprised you consider us friends, after everything".

"What can I say? I'm a people person". Percy glanced at Cisco, who was already starting to perk up. "Let me know when you've had enough, Blink. I'm getting sleepy here".

"Blink?" Cisco looked confused and slightly affronted, "It's Vibe. Why on Earth would you name me Blink?"

Percy held up his hands in surrender, "Whatever you say, man. You just remind me of a comic book character. You know, you blink and you're gone kinda thing? Teleportation? No? Okay, Vibe it is".

They sat there for far too long, Oliver and company keeping watch as Cisco regained his strength. Finally, the man nodded and Caitlin disconnected them from each other. The man was practically glowing and bursting with energy. Glad someone was. "Give me a second to find your Earth". Cisco held up his hands and focused very intently on some trees. Okay, that didn't look productive to Percy, but he would have to assume that Cisco knew what he was doing.

Percy tapped his foot nervously, knowing that Zoom wouldn't let them be for long. As if his thoughts had betrayed them, Oliver started yelling and firing arrows. The rest of team Arrow formed a defensive perimeter, launching arrows and bullets at the rapidly approaching speedster.

Barry, whose legs were finally healed enough to walk, strode up to Percy. Dang the man healed fast.

"I guess that's the signal?" Percy quipped. He turned and muttered some instructions to Cisco, who nodded and started to open the breach.

Barry glanced at Zoom with amusement in his eyes. "We never have enough time, do we? The great cosmic joke: a speedster who always is too late, never enough time to finish the plan".

"Eh, who needs plans? All mine usually go to crap anyways". Percy smiled, a glint of anger and amusement in his eyes, "While we are waiting on our dear Cisco to contact my Earth, what do you say we join Oliver and company to distract the bastard?"

"Okay, so you can take the left flank and I will take the right..."

"No, that's what we have done every other time, and lost. Neither one of us can do this alone. But together..." Percy paused, hoping the Flash would catch his train of thought. Zoom thought he could predict their behavior, so it was time to do something unexpected. "Lightning and water, Flash. A dangerous mixture, chaos even. But chaos isn't necessarily bad, if you can direct it the right way".

"A hurricane of lighting" Barry mused, a grin slowly taking over his face. "Sounds like fun".

* * *

 **I apologize, this chapter and the next were originally going to be published together, but the word count got out of control. I will post the next chapter within the next couple days so that you do not have to wait the usual full week.** **FYI: there will be two more chapters, one from Barry's POV and one from Percy's POV and then we are done! It's crazy! Thanks to all those who are reading and reviewing.**


	11. A Dangerous Mixture

Percy's rage was impressive before, but it was nothing compared to the force he unleashed at Zoom now. Instead of working against him like in the park, the Flash weaved around him, wreathing the hurricane in flame and lighting. Oliver and the rest of the team backed out of the danger zone, only engaging when Zoom got a bit too close to their defenses.

Foregoing the earthquakes he used earlier, Percy used walls water to keep Zoom trapped in the forest clearing with Barry. The Flash then would go on the offensive, launching brief but deadly attacks before dodging back into the safety of the hurricane. Whenever Zoom got too close to the kid, Barry would run along the water, pushing Zoom backwards using electric charge and the intense water pressure of the whirlpool. Gosh, he loved science.

Barry was aware of Cisco finally opening the breach, stepping through it onto what he could only assume was Percy's Earth. The portal didn't look terribly stable, constantly ebbing and whirring, like a television surfing between channels. Then the fight drew Barry's attention and he struck out again at Zoom as Percy drew the hurricane back around him. Barry fought Zoom hand-to-hand, speed against speed. Then, as quickly as lightning returns to the heavens, he retreated into the dark clouds of Percy's hurricane, protecting the teen as he lashed out with raging water and held Zoom within their circle. He was aided by arrows and bullets, driving Zoom into their circle of death.

This was going amazingly well, but Barry knew that their luck would not hold. Zoom was faster than he had ever been, and he was patient above all else. He could afford to wait them out. Though his legs had healed, Barry was painfully aware that he was not ready to be running this fast yet. And it was a miracle that Percy was still alive, much less fighting after his ordeal. Soon, their energy would fade and Zoom would take control of the fight again. But at the moment, the Flash and the Son of Poseidon were working in perfect harmony, a storm of destruction. Buying time, striking quickly and retreating when the advantage was no longer in their favor.

"Cisco has opened the breach and has made contact with Percy's friend". Felicity's voice crackled over the earpiece, only barely heard over the roar of rushing water and the crackle of lightning.

"He had better hurry it up" the Arrow responded as Barry launched a strike again. "Percy's hurricane is starting to fade".

With a start, Barry realized that Oliver was right. The water was slowing down and retreating back to the demigod. When he was visible through the maelstrom, Percy's face was pale and tense, scrunched up in a grimace of pain. Barry quickly launched another offensive to keep Zoom away from the receding water, but the speedster threw Barry to the side in a sudden burst of speed. Zoom had found his opening. Launching himself off the side of a nearby tree, he shot right into the hurricane, the waters no longer maintaining enough pressure to keep him out. In the blink of an eye, Zoom's furious claws descended on Percy as he ducked and weaved, parrying the hits he couldn't dodge with his bronze sword. The first time Zoom's claws met his blade, Percy had looked surprised, as if he was expecting the sword to pass right through the speedster. But Percy grew more and more confident in his defense, occasionally striking out with his sword when the Flash joined the fight, drawing small drops of strangely colored blood. Barry felt a surge of satisfaction as he delivered a right hook to Zoom's jaw. They had finally drawn blood. Maybe they wouldn't need Percy's friend after all. But apparently, a wounded Zoom was an even deadlier Zoom. With a snarl and a burst of speed, Zoom kicked the sword out of Percy's hands.

"I have had enough" he rasped, claws extending towards Percy's undefended neck. "You, godling, are of no more use to me alive. I wanted your camp to see their precious leader on his knees, but I suppose..."

"Blah blah blah. Evil villain monologue. I get it, Darth Zoominess. You want me dead. How original. But you'll have to catch me first, Hot Wheels".

The water found Percy again as he stumbled away from the speedster and towards Team Arrow, who had moved their defenses around Cisco's stuttering breach. Barry followed closely behind, throwing a few tree limbs at Zoom for good measure. The teams rained arrows, bullets, and punches down on the evil speedster, just barely holding their line. The monster was angry, and faster than he had ever been before.

Just as the Arrow was thrown back, their defensive line shattering, the breach shuddered and closed. The portal spit out Cisco (whose hair was on fire for some reason) and what looked to be a small, barefoot child wearing a brown dress. Barry used the distraction to get a few good hits on Zoom, pushing him back a bit. He then raised his eyebrows at Percy, the rest of the team engaging Zoom once more.

Harry took it upon himself to say what everyone was thinking. "The best defense your world has to offer is a little girl?"

But Percy seemed unperturbed, grinning maniacally at them. "Oh just you wait. She can do a lot of damage". He then sent water over to Cisco, extinguishing his very crispy hair. The small child walked over to Percy, placing a small hand on his arm. "Buy me some time, would you Perseus?"

Percy instantly complied, sending the last of his strength into a massive tidal wave that pushed Zoom back a few miles. He collapsed on the ground, cradling his stomach and dry heaving. Taking Barry's offered hand, the demigod shakily stood up and _bowed_ to the child. Percy Jackson, Mr. Sass, _bowed_. "My lady. Thank you for coming to help".

He straightened as she placed her hand on his shoulder, helping to hold him steady. Percy gave her a grateful glance, then looked worriedly into the forest. "He is fast. That will not hold him for long".

"What assistance can I provide that the others couldn't? Your friend Cisco asked for me specifically. You of all people know that I rarely venture from the hearth".

Barry was royally confused by this point. Hearth? Others? Cisco's hair on fire? Percy's earth must be a crazy place if it could confuse the Flash this much.

"This _monster_ has been hunting down demigods and harvesting their blood. He uses it to get faster, to enhance himself. My lady, he can get through the camp borders and he will not stop until he has drained all demigods. The camps are your hearth, as well as Olympus and our entire earth. I need you to return him to his original state, reclaim the blood of Olympus and protect our home". Percy looked a bit bashful as he continued. "And, you are the only one I could count on to come and help me".

The child smiled proudly at Percy, "You have learned well, young demigod, from your time as a hero of Olympus. I am the only Olympian able to do what you ask. However, I must be clear. You do this with the knowledge that I can only help our Earth, not this one".

Percy frowned, glancing at Barry. Barry got the feeling that Percy had known this before the child said anything. He quickly nodded at his friend. If this girl could take care of Zoom's added speed and protect Percy's world, they could handle the rest. It wouldn't be easy, but Barry knew that his team was more than capable. Percy seemed to understand, replying ruefully, "Yes. But any help is better than no help at all. I can't save everyone by myself. I know that now".

The child nodded, then straightened. "You have learned that lesson the hard way in the past. I hesitate to trust mortals. But your new friends seem capablel".

The child glanced up suddenly, her attention drawn to the forest. "The speed demon approaches. Child, you must be ready to return with me, or you will remain stuck on this Earth forever".

Percy nodded, then looked at Barry and Oliver. "I have enjoyed meeting you. I am sorry I couldn't help more".

Barry grinned, "Like the little girl said, we can take care of ourselves. Just get your super blood out of him so that we can take him down the old fashioned way".

Percy raised one eyebrow, "You call superspeed the old fashioned way?"

"What can I say? Times are changing". Barry hesitated, then asked the girl, "Will we ever see Percy again?"

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. The future is clouded until the fates chose to make their will known. It is not impossible to open a path again, but I _can_ guarantee that as long as Zoom lives, our world will open its gate for no-one, friend or foe".

Barry had so many questions, but he could see the forest glowing blue. Zoom was here. The girl stood up and closed her eyes, raising her hands as her form started to grow. Percy pulled all of them back, warning: "I would close your eyes. Unless, of course, you wish to die a very painful death".

The team did as he said (because none of them really fancied disintegration), so they didn't see the child morph into the goddess of the hearth herself, the Last Olympian. Barry couldn't see the unyielding flames encircling Zoom. He wasn't able to witness the smoldering glory of the goddess protecting her own. None of them would truly understand why Zoom couldn't run, frozen in terror when faced with an ancient deity defied, the fiery rage of one whose charges had been marred, whose domain had been threatened. He did, however, hear the screams of Zoom as the blood of Olympus was reclaimed through Hestia's fire, leaving him with only his own speed. He could taste the iron of Zoom's blood in the air, could smell burning flesh. Though he only received fractions of the moment, pieces of the puzzle, Barry was suitably afraid and awed.

At Percy's word, they opened their eyes and saw before them a young women instead of a little girl. Though she was not in here true form, she glowed like smoldering ashes. When she offered her hand, Percy took it without hesitation. They walked carefully towards the breach, leaving a writhing Zoom behind. Percy smirked at them as he walked away. "We leave him in your very capable hands. Punch him for me, would you?"

Oliver cracked his knuckles in anticipation as Barry nodded in affirmation. He called, "See you later, Waterboy".

As the two Greeks passed through the breach, they could hear him retort, "See you later, Robin Hood; Streaky".

And in the blink of an eye, the strangest thing to stumble into Barry's life passed through the breach. The passage between their worlds was closed, sealed by the flames of the hearth.

The team turned back to Zoom, who was panting heavily on the ground, black blood oozing from various wounds. As Oliver and Barry walked towards him, he slowly stumbled to his feet. Barry fastened a meta-cuff on his leg as Oliver nearly cracked his jaw with a powerful punch to the face. The speedster didn't even bother with any villainy retorts, just collapsed to the ground.

"What do we do with him now?" Barry asked. He couldn't believe it. Zoom had finally been defeated.

"Put him down. Put him down for good". Harry brandished his energy gun, as if ready to do the deed right there.

Barry was tempted. Really, really, tempted. But he knew, as the Flash, he walked a fine line between hero and villain. And killing Zoom, well, that could be the push that tipped him over the edge. "No Harry". He said softly, hoping to convey his thoughts to the angry man as he spoke. "We don't kill. That's what sets us apart from him".

After a moment of tense silence, Harry finally nodded. Barry sighed with relief, feeling the inevitable exhaustion creep in. "Any ideas?"

"I'll call Lyla, get Argus to pick him up". Diggle offered, pulling out his phone. "Put him somewhere he can't hurt anyone. I am sure Argus has several unpleasant vaults for national security threats like Zoom".

"No need". A voice called from the trees, prompting the teams to aim every weapon they had on the figure. They instantly relaxed when Lyla stepped out. "Jeez, trigger happy much? We picked up the energy readings, looked like the fight of the century. Hightailed it out of here as fast as our jet would fly. Don't worry, we will take good care of your _friend_ ".

Barry couldn't stop smiling as Zoom was loaded into an Argus plane and carted off to who knows where. It bothered him, not knowing who Jay's killer was and leaving masked man in Zoom's lair. This all felt very unfinished. But Percy was right. Having lots of friends, being the hero, it came with a lot of pressure and a ton guilt. But you couldn't save everyone. And opening a portal to Earth-2 could just make everything worse. So he pushed down the persistent feeling that this was not the end of Zoom and made the choice to revel in their victory.

"Good riddance". Oliver muttered, slinging his bow over his shoulders.

"Come on, Oliver. If there weren't life threatening events, we would never see each other". Barry jested.

"But on this occasion, I have to agree with grumpy cat. I hope Zoom stays down". Cisco muttered. Oliver shot him a death glare. "What? The kid's nicknames left a bit to be desired, but I dig grumpy cat".

The teams stood together, gathering their breath as the sun set over the smoking, wet forest. It was a perfect moment, until Oliver poked Cisco in the chest. "You giving us a ride home or what?"

Cisco grumbled but opened another breach leading to Star City. As Oliver and company walked through, a certain speedster could be heard muttering, "grumpy cat". And if the Arrow chose to ignore other than an uncharacteristically amused snort, well, what could he say? He still had water in his ears.

Cisco opened another breach, spitting the team back into the Cortex, where this whole adventure had begun. He walked over to the desk and pulled out a bottle of champagne. When the rest of the team gave him confused glances, Cisco shrugged. "Even though _we_ didn't technically defeat Zoom, and Percy wasn't a meta and isn't actually evil, I am counting them towards our victory-meter. We definitely deserve it after the last couple weeks. Congratulations! The Flash-100. Evil-0. Cheers!"

Yeah, Barry's life was crazy. Sometimes it was a trainwreck, and it was always filled with strange occurrences and people. But he wouldn't trade it for the world.

* * *

 _Undisclosed Argus Prison_

 _0300 hours_

 _The prison was freezing. The fools thought that lowering the temperature would hurt a speedster. And it would have, if he wasn't Zoom. Even without the wretched boy's blood, he was the fastest man alive. A chill in the air wouldn't bring him to his knees._

 _When his internal clock hit 3am, he decided enough was enough. Breaking the capsule he had hid in his sharpened teeth, he felt the Velocity-9 surge through him. Ripping the metahuman cuff from his ankle, he phased through the prison walls out into the tundra._

" _Until next time, Flash" Zoom hissed, returning to Earth-2. He removed the mask, revealing the face of Jay Garrick. But his smile did not belong to the friendly, compassionate Jay Team Flash had known. Oh no. He was Zoom now. Completely, fully. And he would not lose like this._

 _He could see it in Team Flash's eyes, they couldn't leave Earth-2 to suffer under his rule. Once they realized he had gone back, they would open a breach again. So let the Flash revel in his apparent victory. Let his anger fuel him. Let him get faster. And when Barry came for him, Zoom would be ready._

* * *

 **It can be assumed that the Flash timeline continues according to the television show, starting with season 2 episode 16. I wanted to mess with the timeline as little as possible (if only Barry were that wise), so unfortunately Zoom had to escape. Thus ends the Flash's portion of this story. One more chapter to go! Thanks for reading and remember to review!**


	12. Home is Where the Hearth Is

The minute Percy and Hestia stepped through the breach, a lightning bolt was shot at their heads. Luckily, Hestia was paying attention (admittedly Percy was not) and deflected it, leaving a rather large hole in a tapestry. Annabeth wouldn't be happy, but personally Percy was just glad that hole wasn't in his head.

"Brother, do try to contain yourself" Hestia scolded, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"Well, you shouldn't pop out with no warning. I thought you might be an intruder". That was about as close to an apology as you could get from Zeus. Hestia sent another glare towards her brother, then slowly strode to the center of the council room, practically dragging Percy with her. The last thing he wanted after that battle was to deal with the Olympian council, which usually was more like the Olympian nursery. However, Percy didn't think he had much of a choice.

"I enjoyed the Valdez kid's reaction much more. He nearly fainted when you threw lightning at this hair. Proper reaction to deities, that one". Ares slumped on his throne in disappointment, fingering his sword. "I like inspiring fear in young demigods".

Hephaestus coughed, drawing Percy's attention to him, "But he wasn't my son".

"Oh please, we have been over this. He looked exactly like your son. Even if he was older. Therefore, he was your son". Aphrodite complained, not even looking away from her mirror.

"Ummm, he's right" Percy interrupted, before things got out of hand, "That was Cisco Ramon. He is not Leo Valdez, but he is his doppelganger. From another Earth".

The entire Olympian council looked remarkably calm at the news that there were other earths. Ares and Zeus looked slightly disappointed, but that wasn't unusual. The majority of the council looked indifferent or relieved. Percy supposed they didn't want their favorite punching bag to up and disappear. Not unless they were doing the kidnapping.

Hades, who was making a rare appearance in the council room, cleared his throat. "Right. Well, that doesn't concern us".

"You knew that there were other Earths?" Percy questioned, "And someone from one of those earths came to kill demigods. No offense, but it really does concern us".

"Not anymore. The passage has been closed, sea spawn" Athena lazily fingered her spear, glaring at Percy.

"And to ensure the bridge remains closed, no one can know it exists". Zeus had taken control back now, addressing Percy directly. "The only people who know of the multiverse are in this room. And that is the way it must remain. Under no circumstances are you to tell anyone about this other Earth".

Percy stared at Zeus, confusion giving way to anger, "But how am I supposed to explain where I have been? What if not telling them places the camp in danger?"

"But son, Hestia has closed the breaches now. No one can cross onto our Earth. That is the way it has been for centuries, and that is the way it shall remain". Poseidon's brow creased in confusion, as if he couldn't understand why Percy would want to tell his friends about the multiverse.

"What if the Flash needs my help sometime?" Percy argued, knowing that he wasn't going to get anywhere, but needing to try anyways.

"Then his earth will have to deal with it". Poseidon gently chided his son, sending a concerned glance at his two brothers.

"I could always remove your memory of this experience. Then we wouldn't have to worry about him blabbering. The fact that he so easily told those mortals about our existence implies that he cannot be trusted when it comes to the multiverse". Hera glanced at Percy, as inspecting a prized cow gone rogue. "It worked to remove borders during the Second Giant War, it will work to keep them up now".

"No. No one is going anywhere near my memories". Percy firmly glared at Hera.

"You must understand Percy, the more people who know about the multiverse, the greater chance our protective barrier will be breached. As Annabeth and you have not shared the news of Egyptian or Norse demigods with the rest of the camps, this should be kept secret as well. Even from Annabeth. Her pride and intellect would not allow her to let this go. I do not want the effort expended to secure our world to be in vain". Hestia gently explained to Percy, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I know that you don't like keeping secrets. But this is one time you must respect our wishes. We are united on this issue, young demigod. That is a rare and powerful thing".

Percy looked at the council as he processed the information. "Fine".

"No, swear it". Zeus glared at Percy, one hand on his master bolt.

"I will not speak of the multiverse or my time there unless given permission by the council. If the knowledge of the multiverse is revealed by internal or external forces, I will be released from my oath and free to speak. I swear this on the River Styx".

Thunder roared overhead as the deal was struck. Ares still looked like he wanted to spear him, but the rest of the council seemed satisfied. They began to talk amongst themselves, ignoring Percy once more. Poseidon gave him a smile and a nod: he was proud of his son. Percy acknowledged him, then turned back to Hestia.

"Thank you, Hestia. I do not know what I would have done without you".

She smiled, years of wisdom evident on her young face, strangely mixed with...guilt? "You are most welcome, son of Poseidon. But you are weary and still very injured. Rest now. I will get you home".

And for the first time in weeks, Percy relinquished his hold on the world willingly and fell into a deep and peaceful sleep.

* * *

When he woke, he was in a cot. He panicked briefly, thinking that he was back with Zoom in the storage facility. But his arms were not restrained. He could smell pine, strawberries, and lemon. Camp. He slowly cracked open his eyes, and saw Annabeth sleeping in a chair beside him, her frazzled hair surrounding her like a halo. He poked her, partially to make sure that she was real. She groaned and stretched, then started when she realized that he was awake. Percy gave her a lopsided grin, one that spoke of mischief and years of adventures.

"You drool when you sleep". Percy stated, playing with one of Annabeth's curls.

She laughed, grabbing his hand. "If you weren't injured, I would kill you. I believe I warned you that would happen if you disappeared on me again".

Percy rubbed his eyes, starting a bit when he saw a set of IV's attached to his arms. He instantly moved to pull them out, only to be stopped by Annabeth. "Stop, Percy. Those have been giving you fluids and nutrients, helping you heal. We already gave you too much ambrosia and nectar: any more and you could burn up".

Percy shrugged her off and ripped the IV's out of his arms. "I'm awake now. I can eat my calories. For example, I could eat about 20 cheeseburgers right now". He grinned, attempting to conceal his unease with humor.

Annabeth looked at him with concern, but thankfully let the incident go. She knew how much he hated the infirmary, and he hoped she would buy that thought. Because the true answer was one he couldn't give her.

"How did I get here?" Percy asked, though he thought he knew the answer. His suspicions were confirmed when Annabeth replied, "You appeared in the campfire with Hestia. She brought you here to get medical attention. You had quite the laundry list of injuries. Broken ribs, a plethora of contusions, lacerations, spinal damage, multiple partially healed concussions, and you were going into hypovolemic shock. You're lucky to be alive, Percy".

He thought about his time on Earth-1 and agreed readily, "Yeah, I am". He paused, looking Annabeth in the eyes, "Look, I am so sorry. I would have returned to camp if I could have, I wish I hadn't worried you. 2 weeks is a long time, especially after last winter..."

"Percy". Annabeth firmly interrupted him, the slight waver to her voice indicated something was wrong. "You were gone for 2 months. You appeared here a week ago and have been recovering ever since. I thought...I thought it was happening again".

Percy's heart raced, his head attempting to figure this out. He had only been on Earth-1 for a little more than 2 weeks, he was sure of that. Had Hera kept him on Olympus? Had she stole his memories again? And if she had kept him that long, how did he not succumb to his injuries during that time? He was going to kill that cow loving, two faced goddess of...

Then, he remembered the day he had left. It was noon on his earth, dark on Earth-1. His heart sank as he realized time must run differently between the two Earths. He lost time again, he left Annabeth again. He missed _Christmas again_. His poor mother, her son missing twice within the same year. He missed school, how was he going to get into college now, his plans with Annabeth, the only thing that kept him going through Tartarus, were in jeopardy all because of some stupid, speedy demon jerk face...

The heart rate monitor still clamped to his finger started to beep faster and faster. Annabeth's focus was split between the monitor and attempting to calm Percy down. "It's okay, you're back now. We are together. We are together again Percy". She crooned softly, not stopping until the heart rate monitor had returned to normal levels. She pulled his face against her shoulder, rocking gently back and forth as Percy caught his breath. "What happened?"

Percy had no idea what to tell her. How could he explain this? So he did the only thing he could, "I don't remember anything other than two weeks". Not a lie, allowed him to keep his oath.

Annabeth's retort was interrupted by the doors bursting open, revealing a very nervous Nico, Jason, Hazel, Piper, and Frank. Leo was there as well, but he was waving excitedly and his hair was on fire. It was surreal to see them all again, particularly Leo after spending time with his older doppleganger.

"Hey man! Welcome back to the land of the living!" Leo grinned manically at him, gesturing with a doodad of some sort. "I got you a present. Actually, it's kinda a present from all of us".

Percy looked at Annabeth warily, whose only response was to grin at him. Leo continued, either unaware or unconcerned with Percy's discomfort. "I give you, the PPS! Percy Positioning System. A state of the art tracker implanted in the subjects arm that allows his awesome and very concerned friends to know where he is if he ever disappears again". He gestured proudly at the monitor, which showed an icon of a fish in the infirmary. Percy glanced at his arm. He must have been really out of it to not notice a flaming elf implanting electronics in his arm.

Annabeth quickly snatched it from Leo. "Don't worry, Percy. Chiron will keep this. It is in case of emergency only, _not_ to be used for pranking". She glared at Leo as she emphasized her last point. The demigod in question pouted, his plans for the rest of the weekend ruined. "And Leo messed with the electronics. The tracker won't attract any monsters. We tested it on him first".

Then, Will walked in and attended to Percy, checking his vitals and scolding him for pulling out the IVs. After a few minutes, he declared Percy in good health. "Just keep your wandering and life-threatening situations to a minimum for a while" he mentioned with a smile. "We are glad to have you back, Percy". He unplugged Percy from at least a dozen machines then grabbed Nico's hand, pulling the indignant Ghost King after him.

* * *

And Percy's life went back to normal as he sharpened swords in the armory, greeted campers, taught swordplay, and grabbed dinner with all his friends. He would head back to school with Annabeth once the weekend was over. It was overwhelming to think of all the makeup work he would have to do. As if he didn't have enough of that already. He would need to think up an excuse as to where he disappeared to this time and apologize profusely to his mother. Jason, Frank, and Hazel were returning to Camp Jupiter tomorrow, having rushed to Camp Half-Blood when Percy had been found. More like delivered, he thought ruefully.

After getting his dinner, he threw nearly all of it into the fire, whispering "Hestia. Thank you for getting me home. For protecting my home".

The flames roared briefly with warmth, soothing the demigod as he joined his friends. They asked a lot of questions and he did his best to give truthful but roundabout answers. He was abducted while trying to stop a monster. The monster thought that by taking a demigod's blood, he could enter the camp's border. It didn't work and Hestia found him, defeated the monster, and returned him to camp. He could tell they wanted more answers, but he knew he couldn't provide them, for the sake of his oath and for the protection of his people. Including the teams back on Earth-1.

And as the sun set over the trees and the campers sang "I Am My Own Great-Great-Great-Great Grandpa", Percy basked in the time with his friends and thought of all the new friends he gained. He was finally home.

A girl with a brown dress sat in the fire, tending the flames and watching the war-hardened demigod laugh and launch marshmallows at his friends. "I am sorry my child". She whispered to herself, "It is much harder to close a door than open it. This struggle far from over. And I have just placed you in the middle of it. Remember this, Percy, remember what you fight for. Because the multiverse isn't done with you yet".

* * *

 **AAANNNDD here we are. The end. Thank you to all who read, followed, favorited, and reviewed this story. It was an absolute blast to write, and was made even better by the loyal readers and reviewers. I am sure the question will come up, "is there going to be a sequel"? The end of this story certainly implies the their adventures will continue. As we all know, Zoom doesn't last much longer and there is a way for Percy to be free of his oath. The door to the multiverse isn't locked, merely closed. So yes, there will be a sequel. I am still working out the logistics. I know it will just be team Flash (I had a heck of a time juggling team Arrow in this story as well. So many characters!). But I know I definitely want the Heroes of Olympus to interact with the Flash and crew. So here is what I know so far about the sequel:**

 **1\. It will not be appearing instantly. I need a few weeks to gather my thoughts and plot bunnies. Plus, I thoroughly edit all my work before posting, which is why updates are slow sometimes. So stay tuned for when that drops. I will place a notice on this story when the currently untitled sequel is posted.**

 **2\. It will take place sometime after season 3 of the Flash. Because let's be honest, season 3 was kind of a bummer, and doesn't leave much room for any lighthearted escapades. And I have no interest in using Savitar as the villain.**

 **3\. This tale will include more characters from Percy Jackson, including but not limited to the 7 of prophecy and Nico (Because if there is no Oliver, we need someone grumpy to fill his shoes. And Nico is adorably grumpy).**

 **4\. No team Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, or Supergirl (because that would stretch my sanity as an author).**

 **5\. I am completely ignoring the Trials of Apollo series in these stories (in case you haven't noticed). I have only read the first book (and obviously I reintroduced Leo way before Rick does), and it is just too much to try to stay fairly canon for the Flash, Heroes of Olympus, AND Trials of Apollo. So I apologize to anyone who wanted those characters and plot lines to be incorporated.**

 **6\. No speedster villains. I promise. I, along with many Flash fans, could use a break from evil speedsters. The villain will be good, but something a bit more suited to a large team-up of skilled warriors. Perhaps I will draw inspiration from the anticipated season 4 villain.**

 **Have any questions about this story? Have any suggestions for the sequel? PLEASE let me know. I always appreciate any input, questions, or constructive criticism. I would like to incorporate as many as your requests/ideas as possible.**

 **If you liked this story, you may want to check out more Flash/Percy Jackson crossovers. Some of my personal favorites are:**

 **Deluge by silverwolvesarecool - This is an all around great fic. Dialogue, pacing, and characters are on-point.**

 **Where's the Starbucks? by RangerofOympus- A hilarious adventure with Percy, Annabeth, and the Flash crew. A quality read, not to mention super fun!**

 **Flash Flood by silverwolvesarecool - A good Flash/Percy Jackson fic. In my humble opinion, the villain(s) leave a bit to be desired but it includes some characters that bring a different feel to the story. Characterization is good for the most part and the fast pace leaves you unable to stop reading!**


	13. Update on Sequel

Hello fellow readers! I hope your fall is going well. This is a brief update on the continuation of this story. The first chapter is in the final stages of revision, so I am gearing up to post the sequel within the next week! So stay tuned and keep your eyes out for the "Sea of Time" (because I have way too much fun mashing their powers together in the title). You can access that by checking out my page (silverbird6) or searching the Flash/Percy Jackson crossovers when it is posted.

I really wanted to churn out at least one chapter before season 4 of the Flash airs, because this story is going to pick up right where season 4 starts. So there will be some spoilers through season 3 of the Flash (particularly concerning the way the season ends) with a few bits and pieces plucked from the season 4 trailer. But this story _will not_ follow season 4 at all, so you don't have to worry about any spoilers for that.

I'm really excited for this story. I will be rotating some new POV's in there, get the interaction between the full Team Flash and most of the Heroes of Olympus, and play around with a really fun villain.

Thank you all again for your loyal readership of Hurricane of Lightning. I hope that you will all read the Sea of Time. Here is a sneak peek of the first chapter (Percy's POV):

* * *

"I knew I would find you here". Annabeth's soft voice was barely audible over the crashing waves. "You can't seem to stay away these days".

"It's soothing. The water." Percy clarified, making room for Annabeth to sit next to him on the sand dune. "Not nearly as relaxing at night, but close enough". He shifted so that he was looking at her, regret filling his features. "I'm sorry for that, back there. I lost my temper".

"It was quite the show". Annabeth teased lightly, her head drifting down to his shoulder. They sat like that for a while, watching the waves roll in towards shore.

"You know that if I could tell you, I would?" Percy ventured hesitantly, hoping that this didn't count against his oath to never speak of the multiverse.

"Yeah, I got that. Finally caught it this time." She shifted slightly. "I trust you, Percy. And if you say that this monster isn't a problem anymore, I believe that. But you don't always have the greatest track record of self preservation. And this experience, on top of everything else we have been through?" She paused for a moment, then barreled on ahead in typical Annabeth style. "I've heard about your nightmares. And some days you aren't all here. I know that's not exactly unusual after our time downstairs, but it's different. Because whatever is haunting you this time, we weren't together. How can I help you if I don't know what happened? I'm not frustrated with you, but with the big guys upstairs who apparently decided that we didn't need to know about your life anymore. That it was okay to _use_ you and then throw you out into the world like nothing ever happened, just drop you off at campfire half dead".

The sky rumbled ominously, but Annabeth didn't seem concerned. Neither was Percy, really. After a trip to Tartarus, the temperamental beings upstairs didn't seem nearly as intimidating. Percy and Annabeth had faced true fear.

"I'm not happy with them either. But this is our life, the good, ugly, and downright hideous. And there is nothing we can do but continue on the best we can". Percy answered, thinking of Barry Allen, the man who became the Flash despite his mother's murder. The universe wasn't fair to him either, but he made the best of it and moved on, tried not to look back. Percy was doing the same, one slow step at a time.


End file.
